Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley.

In 2006 that Minister's Department entered into a three-year negotiated agreement with the chewing gum industry to address the problem of chewing gum litter on our streets. The agreement constituted a commitment by industry to a €6 million, three-year education and awareness programme aimed at tackling the gum litter problem.

A gum litter task force, GLT, was established as part of the agreement and a full-time executive was appointed to co-ordinate gum litter awareness and education programmes. The GLT organised three nationwide gum litter action campaigns in 2007, 2008 and 2009. These campaigns included extensive outdoor advertising, an educational secondary schools programme entitled "Bin It", the development of a dedicated GLT website, local radio, in-store and around store advertising, and the distribution of point of sale and promotional materials.

This campaign has achieved much success. For example, monitoring of gum litter levels in the five main cities has demonstrated a 37% overall reduction in gum litter over the course of the 2009 campaign, with all five cities recording significant reductions. Monitoring results in 2008 demonstrated a 36% reduction over the course of the campaign. This shows that the campaign is gathering momentum over time and is having a positive effect on gum litter levels nationwide. In addition, consumer research demonstrates that the campaign has been successful in increasing awareness of the gum litter problem with significantly greater numbers of respondents since 2006 agreeing with the propositions that "it is wrong to drop gum", "spitting gum is disgusting" and "I would feel guilty dropping gum". Overall the researchers concluded that there has been an overwhelming positive trend in attitudes and claimed behaviour in respect of gum disposal since 2006.

It must be recognised that a levy would not address directly the actual cause of the problem, that is, the incorrect disposal of chewing gum. The value of the chewing gum market in Ireland is estimated at €30 million. Therefore a levy pitched at 10% of the retail price would raise approximately €3 million.

The removal of chewing gum is more problematic than other litter items. The prohibitive cost of cleaning chewing gum from our streets means that many local authorities do not engage in this activity. Therefore the funds raised from the imposition of a levy would not provide anything close to the amount that would be required to fully cleanse the country's streets. There would also be substantial administrative costs involved, leaving aside any potential legal challenges which might arise. Furthermore the levy would have to be paid by all consumers of chewing gum, not simply those who dispose of their gum incorrectly, thus punishing all for the behaviour of a few.

It is clear that the imposition of a levy alone will not change the behaviour of those who dispose of their gum irresponsibly. This is the reason the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government believes that even were a levy to be introduced, it would remain crucial to continue to educate and raise awareness of the damaging environmental consequences of dropping gum on the streets. Short-term cleansing solutions do not tackle the root cause of the problem and are unlikely to improve the position in the long term unless one can influence the behaviour of those who continue to dispose of their gum irresponsibly.

The Minister is actively considering what steps to take in the future regarding the gum litter problem, including the possible imposition of a chewing gum levy. All options are being considered and he is currently engaged with industry to establish whether a re-energised education and awareness campaign, funded entirely by the industry and building on the success of the previous agreement, is a viable option.

See this speech in context