Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating me in raising this matter on the Adjournment. Our countryside is full of household rubbish. We have all witnessed an increase in the indiscriminate dumping of rubbish along our roadsides. As I speak tonight, there are people loading up their cars and vans with refuse sacks full of rubbish and intent on driving out to quiet country roads to throw them and other rubbish into the ditches. I have witnessed this being done at the back of my own house. Televisions, kitchen units, shelves, bottles, old waste paper, clothing, baskets, paper and so on are being dumped. Not only is this dumping of rubbish ugly but it gathers rats and other vermin, which then become a problem. Perishable items and food are also being dumped.

The recession, the high costs of rubbish collection and the imposition of recycling charges are all cited as reasons for the increase in dumping. Fáilte Ireland claims that the litter problem poses a serious threat to the credibility of our clean, green image as a tourist destination. The Irish Business Against Litter Association last week published a new survey which identified several key routes, including main access routes to our airports and seaports, which are blighted with large amounts of litter. The survey described the road into Dublin Airport as "an appalling sight" and claimed that the amount of casual litter on the M1 from Dublin Port is a complete eye sore. This is also happening in my own constituency. The N18, northbound and southbound, from Shannon Airport also came up for mention and was described as "heavily littered". It was pointed out to me in recent days that people are driving along the N18 and when they find a quiet spot, are pulling in and throwing bags of rubbish over the embankment. This is particularly prevalent on a number of roads parallel to the N18 in the Newmarket-on-Fergus area.

Many voluntary groups and tidy towns committees are doing Trojan work in our towns and villages battling against the scourge of litter. Many people take great pride in keeping their communities clean and are to be complimented on this. There has been a marked improvement in our urban areas. It is the main roads in and out of our urban areas that are a big problem now. The indiscriminate dumping of litter at Ballyalla Lake, a scenic area outside the capital town of Ennis, has become a big problem in recent times. This is an area where the people of Ennis go with their children to have a picnic or for a walk. A very successful Facebook campaign has been set up to highlight the problem and a Clean up Day has been organised for next Sunday. I wish the organises well in that regard.

Voluntary effort alone is not enough to deal with this litter crisis. There is a huge cost involved in waste enforcement. For example, the N18 dual carriageway-motorway from Ennis to Limerick was highlighted as a black spot for litter. There is huge cost involved in removing this litter owing to safety issues and the necessity to have traffic management arrangements in place before local authority staff can do their job. Clare County Council say that this can cost up to €1,000 per day. The allocation received this year by Clare County Council under the national roads maintenance programme has been significantly cut this year, down by €157,987 as compared to 2009.

The big problem facing many local authorities in terms of waste enforcement is that when a person dumps plastic bags of rubbish on private property, it is the owner of that property who, under section 5 of the Waste Management Acts, 1996-2008, is defined as the "holder". For example, where rubbish is dumped on a farmer's land, he or she is deemed to be "in possession" of this rubbish. Under current law, if the local authority is informed of illegal dumping of this nature, it will not remove the rubbish leaving the onus on the landowner to do so. This section must be amended to take the responsibility away from the person whose land or property has been littered. I appeal to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to act on this matter. I am disappointed the Minister is not here tonight. However, it is hoped the Minister of State, Deputy Brady, will have some good news in regard to the dumping of litter which I am sure is also happening in her homeland of Kildare.

Educating people to take pride in a cleaner environment is key to stamping out this practice. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, recently announced that €1.5 million will be provided over the next three years to support cleaning of key scenic, rural and visitor areas during the peak tourist season from May to September. While this is very important, keeping our areas clear of rubbish should be an all-year activity. I appeal tonight to the Minister to amend the necessary legislation to assist local authorities in their efforts to stamp out this increased level of illegal dumping in our counties. It is destroying our countryside and is causing severe problems. It is unsightly and is putting tourists off. I hope that the Government, in conjunction with the local authorities, will put in place an active campaign to stamp out this increasing problem.

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