Vol. 415 No. 4
10 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for the Environment if he will outline the progress made during the first 12 months on the implementation of the ten year Environment Action Programme announced in January 1991; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
A first progress report on the Environment Action Programme was published by my Department in July 1991. The report documents the substantial progress which has taken place in implementing the programme's main objectives, and highlights some of the key achievements in the period to June 1991. These include: EC approval of Ireland's operational programme: water, sanitary and other local services 1989-93; the elimination of Dublin smog by the ban on bituminous coal and the establishment of the new environmental information service — ENFO.
The report has been circulated to all Members of the House and is available in the Oireachtas Library. Further progress reports will be published periodically during the lifetime of the programme.
Would the Minister agree that, when the Environment Action Programme was launched two years ago, almost to the day, it was promised that £1,000 million would be spent on environmental programmes over the ten year lifespan of the programme? How much of that money has been spent to date and how much of it has come from European Structural Funds? In line with that programme it was promised that eight pieces of legislation would either be enacted or published in 1990. To date only three of those have seen the light of day. What is the position with regard to the other five since they do not even appear on the list of legislation to be published later this year?
I do not have the information on either question available to me; I cannot say what stage the other five items of legislation are at but I can say that the funding is on target and as the Deputy has rightly pointed out, it is £1,000 million over a period of ten years. I do not know the exact amount which comes from the European Community but I will convey the information to the Deputy when I have ascertained it.
Taking into consideration that only three parts of the eight point plan of legislation have been introduced and that local authorities are understaffed to deal with legislation will the Minister make sufficient funds available to them to enable them engage the additional staff needed to enable legislation passed in this House to be implemented?
No, I would not go so far as to agree with the Deputy that local authorities are grossly understaffed to deal with this legislation. In fact I would compliment them as they are doing quite a good job.
I must send the report we got on Monday to the Minister.
The major item of legislation which has already passed through the Seanad and which is at present at Committee Stage in this House is the Environmental Protection Agency Bill. That will have a major impact in this area and will have its own staffing.
Will it have resources?
Yes, resources have been provided in the current year to ensure that the agency is established.
How much?
There are some four Deputies offering. I will be glad to facilitate them if they will please be very brief. I call Deputy Howlin.
Would the Minister accept that recycling is a fundamental element of any environment programme? Does he accept that in terms of recycling we have one of the poorest records in Europe? What plans will be put in place to allow a programme of recycling to be adopted in every borough and every local authority in the country?
I am sorry the Minister did not answer Deputy Howlin's question. Would he not accept that basic decisions need to be taken about waste management generally, including recycling? Can we expect a Bill dealing with waste this year, as promised previously?
It was promised twice.
May I ask the Minister about the urban environment action programme? While the urban environment is getting worse all the time, funds in this respect are being reduced continually.
The Bill to deal with the matter of waste is at an advanced stage of preparation. I do not accept that the urban environment is worsening all the time.
Would the Minister be prepared to come on a tour of Dublin with me, as I have requested him to do on other occasions?
Up to a few years ago when I was leaving this House at night there was smog outside and that situation obtained for months at a time. It is a major advance that that no longer happens in this city.
Will the Minister come to St. Michael's Estate, St. Teresa's Garden's——
The Minister will hardly take credit for the elimination of the smog.
I appreciate that the Minister would not be in a position to answer in regard to the details of every item contained in the action plan on the environment but may I put it to him that two years after the introduction of that plan it is extraordinary that the Minister for the Environment cannot tell this House what amount of money has been spent on it to date or what is the position regarding the outstanding legislation? I appreciate the plan was launched by a different Minister but would the Minister accept that the action plan on the environment was nothing more than a public relations exercise launched at the beginning of the famous Green Presidency and that it is now effectively dead and buried——
We are having statements rather than questions.
There is absolutely no difficulty in giving the Deputy the information he requests in regard to the money being spent on the plan provided that request is included in the question. I do not accept that the plan was a public relations exercise. A substantial amount of time has been spent already both in this House and in the Seanad on the legislation in question. Some of the achievements in the first year alone are as follows: the European Community approval of Ireland's operational programme on water, sanitary and other local services 1989-93; the elimination of Dublin smog by the ban on bituminous coal; the publication of and the debates in the Dáil and Seanad on the Environmental Protection Agency Bill, 1990——
It is still not enacted.
——the enactment of other environmental legislation on planning——
So many words and no actions.
——water pollution control; marine research and radiological protection; the establishment of the new environmental information service, ENFO; sponsorship by the Irish Presidency of the European Community of the Dublin declaration——
All paper.
——on the environment by the European Community heads of Government.
Wastepaper.
There was the Taoiseach's initiative to have a Green 2000 advisory report prepared.
That would be a good speech for tomorrow morning.
There was increased consumption of unleaded petrol to a 23 per cent share of petrol sales——
What does it amount to?
——and a reduction in fish kills nationally from 111 in 1989 to 52 in 1990.
It was the luck of God.
There was increased development of organic farming in the food sector and increased waste recycling as well as conservation of large areas of raised bog purchased by the Wildlife Service. In addition there was progress on the development of energy conservation programmes——
What progress?
——and completion of a series of expert studies on climate change which will contribute to the development of a national strategy in respect of gas emissions responsible for the so-called greenhouse effect. Those achievements were in the first year. Also, since the publication of the first progress report we had the banning of the manufacture, assembly or sale of petroleum coke and other high calorific value solid fuels in an unmixed form. Unleaded petrol sales have increased to 27.1 per cent of total petrol sales.
The Minister has mentioned that twice.
In the report it is stated that sales of unleaded petrol had increased to 23 per cent of petrol sales. What I am saying is that since the report was published that figure has increased to 27.1 per cent.
The former Minister for the Environment, Deputy Pádraig Flynn, should have never been let go.
Deputies have asked questions and they should be good enough to listen to the replies.
A major recycling initiative, Kerbside Dublin, has been launched with the aim of collecting recyclable material each week from 25,000 Dublin homes; the result of a survey on the national attitude to the environment has been published; as has a series of expert studies on climate change.
That has been mentioned twice.
That has all happened since the first report was published. Last week, as Deputies are aware, this country, on behalf of the United Nations hosted a major international conference on fresh water.
Tell that to the people of Naas.
At that conference another statement was drawn up which, with the Dublin Declarlation, will form the basis of major decisions in Rio in June on the whole question of the world's environment.
We are polluted with statements and reports.
There are so many of them.
I would draw the Minister's attention to the original report in which he said legislation would be introduced to deal with the removal of sand from beaches. If he refers to the June progress report he will see there is no reference whatsoever to such legislation. Can he confirm that such legislation is being prepared and, if so, can he say when it will see the light of day?'
We are having rather specific questions worthy of separate questions.
Can the Minister answer please?
That matter is not included in the question but I will communicate with the Deputy.
I am calling Deputy Farrelly for a final and brief question.
The Minister claimed credit for everything except the good weather. When I asked him about making available the necessary funds to enable local authorities to engage sufficient staff to deal with all the legislation which is being passed on to them, he said he was not aware that the local authorities were understaffed. If the local authorities supply the Minister with information to suggest they are understaffed will he deal with the problem positively and provide the finance required?
The Deputy has already adverted to that matter.
I complimented the councils on implementing the legislation and I am satisfied that they are not understaffed. Indeed, funding will be provided for the implementation of legislation. I have referred to the Environmental Protection Agency which will have its own staff.
If we live long enough to see them.
Funding is to be provided in the current year to ensure that that agency is established.
A report will be put on the Minister's desk on Friday morning.
If the Minister gets one more week in the Department he will be able to solve the problems associated with the ozone layer on his own.
Let us proceed with questions in an orderly fashion; Question No. 13, please.
