The reason I have had to raise this important matter on the Adjournment is that, despite raising it with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda, regrettably, nothing has been done about this problem.
Residents in the area have had much experience with local pollution. As a Ringsend resident myself, I know what we had to deal with when Bioburn was operating there. There was a medical incinerator which released huge puffs of thick black smoke over the area, which we subsequently discovered to have a very high dioxin content. Now that this is gone, we are now faced with people burning the plastic or PVC off copper wire. I regret that my constituency colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform cannot be here this evening. It seems to be a trend that the relevant Minister no longer comes in to reply to an Adjournment debate and it is a lapse in the way we do our business in the House. That is no reflection on the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, but I wish the Minister could be here because he promised a lot in dealing with law and order and in regard to the incinerator in my area. He stated that if he were elected to Government, he would do all in his power to stop this but I do not see that happening.
Last week when we were discussing incineration the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government told us that there were more dioxins caused by domestic and other fires than by incinerators. I said that there were still many dioxins in the ash from the incinerators and we should be concerned about that but, notwithstanding, if he is really concerned about the dioxins caused by these sorts of fires, particularly the burning of PVC, he and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should do something about it.
When I put my questions to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on 9 April and 7 May, I asked him what legislation needed to be enforced in this case. I was told that people could be prosecuted under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, the Waste Management Act 1996 and the Air Pollution Act 1987, yet nothing has been done. Recently I raised the issue of the use of a Garda car to take a rugby player from Kiely's pub to the airport, a misuse of Garda resources. When people in the city, however, call the gardaí about serious issues, they sometimes cannot get a Garda car to respond. In this case, people have telephoned the gardaí on numerous occasions and I have been in touch with them myself but nothing has been done. That is regrettable. If this sort of activity were taking place closer to the Ranelagh home of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, something would be done. This is a working class community in Ringsend and for that reason it is often neglected which represents an unacceptable political apartheid.
It has been suggested that some of the groups carrying out this activity are from the Travelling Community. I do not want to discriminate against that community – we could act constructively by asking what business activity is being carried out because it is not necessary to burn PVC off copper wire, there is equipment which can be used to do it. If this is the case, it should be investigated and we could come to a positive resolution allowing people to carry on their traditional business while protecting local residents from serious pollution.
This is not an exaggeration, I have seen the thick, black smoke and if it is the result of the burning of PVC, it contains toxic substances. It is for that reason that I am asking the Minister to act.