Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. I acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, has been providing a strong lead role, on behalf of the Government, in this area but I am concerned about how long it is taking to put the necessary measures in place to combat the problem of illegal dumping and littering. The Minister of State will be aware I introduced legislation to this House about three years ago with a view to ensuring local authorities could use CCTV, drones and other technology to catch those environmental criminals, and that was subsumed into the circular economy legislation we enacted at the end of 2022. It then took the Local Government Management Association, LGMA, a year to develop a code in line with the requirements of the circular economy Act. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, he acted as soon as he got the information back from the LGMA, signed those regulations into place and circulated them to local authorities.

My problem with the process is that we are continuing to see the problem of illegal dumping in urban and rural areas and the Minister of State will be as familiar with it in County Laois as I am in County Wexford. It frustrates members of the public, Tidy Towns associations, development groups and local councillors and we want to be able to use this new technology, in line with data protection regulations, to catch some of these criminals. On foot of the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, having signed the regulations, I wrote to every local authority to inquire as to how they were progressing. Not all of them responded but among those that did, the level of commitment varied. Some were enthusiastic about being able to tackle this, while others were sitting back and waiting to see what was going to happen next. There was certainly talk about how, on a regional basis, there would be trial surveillance schemes and, in some cases, about there being public consultation and so on.What members of the public, Tidy Towns groups and local councillors are looking for are schemes whereby we can roll out, especially in areas where we know illegal dumping is taking place, CCTV and other technologies that can be used to catch these criminals. Only by making an example of these individuals will we finally see some effort to prevent the scourge of illegal dumping.

When I surveyed local authorities nationally more than two years ago, they estimated the combined total cost of dealing with illegal dumping and littering to all our local authorities was between €90 million and €100 million. It is not just the financial cost. There is the obvious environmental cost, the undoing of the good work of Tidy Towns groups and local community associations, and the potential hazard to animals, pets and livestock. It is just a disgusting practice. I am frustrated at how long it is taking for us to be able to safely, effectively and in line with data protection regulations roll out this technology.

I ask for a commitment that any of the trials and so on that have to be undertaken be done as quickly as possible. I also ask that local authorities be resourced and, if necessary, additional resources be provided to them so they can use CCTV drones and other technologies to help us rid our country of this problem once and for all.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. The Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, also has a clear role in this area due to the data protection issue.

The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 advanced a number of priority provisions identified in the waste action plan, including the provision of GDPR-compliant use of technologies, such as CCTV. The Act facilitates the use of CCTV schemes, under either the Litter Pollution Act or the Waste Management Act, and the use of other mobile recording devices, such as drones and bodycams under the Waste Management Act only, as waste enforcement officers are often required to deal with significant criminality in the course of their duties. I again praise all of those working in the sector for their ongoing work in trying to tackle illegal waste.

In order to address data protection concerns, the Act set out a number of conditions to be complied with prior to the introduction and use of CCTV and other mobile recording devices. In particular, the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, was required to prepare codes of practice setting certain standards for the operation of CCTV schemes and the use of mobile recording devices by local authorities. The LGMA engaged extensively with the Data Protection Commission and other State agencies in drafting these codes of practice, which were submitted to the Minister for approval in December 2023. Following their approval by the Minister, the codes of practice were laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas by the LGMA, and an order commencing the relevant provisions of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act was signed on 15 February 2024. We all recognise this issue has been up and down through local authorities many times, primarily due to dealing with data protection issues. Local authorities are now in a position to begin the process of putting the required procedures in place to allow for the use of CCTV and other audiovisual recording, AVR, technologies in order to combat illegal dumping, subject to adherence with the relevant provisions in the codes of practice.

It is important to note that the use of these technologies will be restricted to appropriate authorised personnel within the local authorities and will require ongoing justification for installation and usage. In proposing to install and operate CCTV schemes, local authorities will be required to prepare a site management plan in respect of each individual scheme, setting out proposed arrangements for the monitoring, recording and disclosing of the images produced, and the preserving of these recordings, within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 2018. Data protection impact assessments must also be carried out in connection with the same legislation.

I emphasise that each local authority is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of the relevant provisions of the Waste Management Act in respect of the holding, recovery and disposal of waste within its functional area, and that the Minister and Department are precluded from exercising any power or control relating to the performance by a local authority of a statutory function vested in it. Under the legislation, individual local authorities are responsible for dealing with cases involving the illegal disposal of waste in their functional areas. It is a matter for them to decide on the most appropriate enforcement and clean-up actions, including the usage of CCTV or other mobile recording devices.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State talked about the length of time it has taken to get to this point. The response the Minister has provided to the Minister of State makes it very clear that this is the responsibility of local authorities and that legislation now gives them the power to take action in this space. I would encourage local authorities to act on this basis. Some are telling me that they are going to through a particular process, waiting for trials and so on. While they have to put in place all of the necessary safeguards, I would ask the Minister to consider writing to each local authority to stress the urgency of addressing this challenge. If there is a need for additional resources to be provided to local authorities to address this issue, I ask that such resources be provided. It is not acceptable that we continue to see the scourge of illegal dumping. The Department needs to strongly support local authorities in using whatever technology is available to tackle this problem.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. The Department has allocated €3 million to local authorities as part of the anti-dumping initiative for 2024. Since 2017, €18 million has been provided to local authorities across the country to support more than 1,700 projects. Local authorities continue to work with the State agency to identify problems. That funding does not specifically relate to CCTV but rather to the anti-dumping initiative. I welcome the clarity the Department has provided in stating that the use of these technologies should be restricted to appropriate authorised local authorities because, as I understand it, that is where most of the logjam was. If tidy towns committees were granted access, everybody could see what their neighbours were up to. That is too broad a brush so the scheme had to be narrowed. The focus was then put back on local authorities. They were not enthusiastic about taking this on and wanted to leave it to local communities to look after their own areas but it is now their responsibility. Exclusive use of the technology must be maintained by the local authority and only appropriate authorised officials can have access. That helps to deal with the issue of people's rights under privacy laws and so on. Now that the matter is clarified, we can move on.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Byrne for raising this very important issue, which is a blight on many communities. The Minister of State took all four Commencement matters this morning. We appreciate his time. We know he is in a busy Department and that time is precious so his time here in the Seanad is very much appreciated.