John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

While I agree that anecdotal evidence suggests fly-tipping has increased, I remind the Deputy of the results of a survey published recently by Irish Business Against Litter, IBAL, which does fantastic work. My Department's national litter pollution monitoring system will also publish results soon. The results of both IBAL and my Department's system point to a steady reduction in litter levels across the country. According to the IBAL report published last week, 68% of areas monitored are clean to European norms, up from 40% in 2002. Steady progress has been made and the IBAL findings are echoed in the findings of the national litter pollution monitoring report which shows that 66% of areas surveyed displayed high levels of cleanliness compared to 48% in 2002. While specific results relating solely to roadside litter are not available, figures from that area clearly feed into the national results. It is clear, therefore, that some improvement has been made, particularly in cities.

On the issue of fly-tipping, we must catch people in the act. A monitoring programme in place in my Department has been highly effective. Footage from CCTV cameras installed in the national parks, which I have seen, shows people fly-tipping. Some of the individuals in question are regular offenders and the footage shows the registration numbers of their cars as they engage in deliberate fly-tipping.

Deputy Stanton referred to civic mindedness and patriotism. The individuals in question do not have any clue about such concepts but are simply trying to get away with not paying waste charges. A number of steps must be taken. Proper registration is required across the country to identify those who are registered as paying waste charges with the local authorities. As the Deputy will be aware, a significant number of private waste disposal operators are seeking to attract customers by offering what they claim to be a better deal than that on offer from the local authorities. Unfortunately, a significant number of people slip between the cracks and may not be registered with a private operator or local authority. We need to establish who is registered for waste services as it is clear some of those who are not registered are engaged in fly-tipping on roadsides and in some of our most scenic areas, including the national parks. As I stated, the Department has an operation in place in the national parks and I hope shortly to reveal its results in order that we can secure prosecutions and make examples of these litter louts.

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