Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to come back in on a few issues relating to enforcement. The Minister spoke about learning lessons and we have to do that. In the Naas experience it was the community, through Clean Air Naas, that demanded intervention and it came at a very late stage. Regarding the organisations that would have had responsibility, it is one thing to have good legislation, but, obviously, it needs to be enforced. Who will issue the fixed payment notices? It is included in the civil code. Presumably, they will be issued by the local authorities. Are there designated individuals? Is it part of the local authorities' workforce planning to have such individuals? Will they be chasing around after bin trucks? How does it manifest itself? If it will be done by the local authorities, they will distribute the work and will want the return on time. If only a very small number end up being fined, it may mean that it will not result in fines actually being paid. Different local authorities have varying staffing ratios which impact on their capacity to do things. I have addressed this issue with the Minister in another forum. For example, Kerry County Council has twice the number of staff Meath County Council has, even though more people live in County Meath. I often use this example because it is a very good comparator. Therefore, the ability to do the job may vary, depending on the local authority involved.

I am not sure if the EPA has an involvement. If it does, it can be very good on the technical side, but I question if it has the hands-on capacity required. It may not have a role in this issue. It has an expanded role in climate legislation, meaning that its workload has been expanded. I ask the Minister to address the issue of enforcement.

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