Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start off with a general observation about waste and litter. The countryside is a dirtier place now than it was a few years ago. More dumping is happening on the sides of roads with, for example, couches tossed out of the backs of cars. In the environment fund, expenditure on waste prevention and national market development programmes was reduced in 2015 compared with 2014. I also note funding for the national strategy on biodegradable waste was cut from €38,098 in 2014 to €1,845 in 2015.

The Department is going in the wrong direction.