asked the Minister for the Environment if, in view of the continuing threat to health from refuse still uncollected or dumped in Dublin city, he will take urgent steps to remove such threat; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I have been informed by Dublin Corporation that the refuse which still remains to be collected following the recent industrial dispute does not present a threat to public health and that every effort is being made through overtime and weekend working to have the backlog of refuse collected as soon as possible.

Is the Minister aware that all over Dublin there are mounds of refuse? Would he tell us what extra steps have been taken by his inspectors to give us a guarantee that they are not a danger to health?

This is a matter for Dublin Corporation. As a member of that corporation the Deputy must be aware of what goes on there. The corporation assure me that it is only a matter of time before all this refuse is collected because their people are working weekends to clear the backlog. Are we to condemn the corporation for that?

Has the Minister made any extra money available to them to do this job?

They have not looked for it.

Will the Minister interest himself in the mounds of refuse all over Dublin and consider the possibility that he may have been misguided on this issue?

It is probable the corporation do not need any more money.

Question No. 14.