THE Government has been accused of the "killing the goose that lays the golden egg" because of its neglect of the environment.
The charge was made by the Fianna Fail spokesman, Mr Noel Dempsey, who said the State was more littered than ever facing into the 1997 tourism season. Convictions under the litter laws dropped by over 50 per cent in the last year to a pathetic 113.
Mr Dempsey added that 30 per cent of rivers surveyed were polluted. In the north west, where tourism was especially important, 16 out of 47 lakes were polluted. Air quality was also deteriorating.