Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I warmly congratulate my colleague and good friend, the Minister of State, Deputy Connick, on his appointment. I assure him that Deputy Thomas Byrne and I have had words with a certain journalist who wrote comments in a newspaper last Saturday. Both he and I are absolutely delighted at the Minister of State's elevation. I look forward to working with him.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue tonight. I am sure all Members would agree that littering and illegal dumping is becoming a growing problem in every community across the country. This problem, with which we will have to get to grips, has worsened considerably in recent months. From talking to other colleagues it is clear that it is a nationwide problem. A small minority of people who are littering our communities and engaging in illegal dumping are causing a blight on our landscape. We will have to tackle the situation in a meaningful and serious way. From the number of complaints coming to my constituency office and from personal observations the situation is deteriorating. At a time when we are seeking to exploit the economic potential of the tourism industry in this country we need to be careful about the reputation we will get given the level of litter and illegal dumping that is apparent on our streets, country roads and in every community across the country. Recently the West Cork Tourism Co-operative Society Limited managed, after a huge amount of work, to reinstate the Cork to Swansea ferry link, which comes into my constituency in Ringaskiddy in Cork South Central. What impression will it give to tourists arriving there who are driving to west Cork or elsewhere to observe litter and black bags of rubbish dumped at the roadside? That sends out a terrible signal about us as a country. If that is the impression with which people leave this country it is unrealistic to think they will return. In addition, how many people will they tell about their experience?

That gives rise to a number of questions about the level of enforcement by local authorities and the Garda who is also empowered under the legislation to issue on-the-spot fines. It is clear that not enough fines are being issued. Is there a lack of consistency across the country in terms of the number of fines being issued and the level of enforcement? How many cases are being brought to court where people do not pay the on-the-spot fine and one is levied?

I was interested to read that the Probation Service has undertaken an initiative in recent months whereby persons who have been convicted of minor crimes are being required by the courts to do community service and the Probation Service is engaging with local authorities to get those people involved in a graffiti removal programme. My suggestion, which I mentioned to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, is that the Probation Service would extend that idea to get people involved in litter picking and in cleaning our roads and streets. It would be a suitable payback to society if people convicted of minor crimes were required by the courts to carry out community service. I urge the Minister to seriously consider the suggestion.

We must also consider whether a fine of €150 is sufficient. Perhaps it is, but it is not being levied often enough. We are all well aware of the huge amount of voluntary work being done by tidy towns groups around the country, residents associations within estates, community groups and the Irish Business against Litter group. Currently, they are literally swimming against the tide of litter and illegal dumping which is becoming a scourge in society.

We must first acknowledge that the situation is getting worse. Businesses must play their part. Many fast food outlets are still not fulfilling their responsibilities. Vacant local authority housing stock is also a problem. We have had some successes such as the plastic bag levy, for example, but much more needs to be done. The positive suggestion I make tonight is that the Minister would contact the Probation Service with a view to extending the programme of graffiti removal to include picking up litter and cleaning areas affected by illegal dumping.

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