Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy Broughan that I am acutely aware of the concerns he has raised. I thank him for his acknowledgement that we are increasing our funding in this area. The €3 million fund I announced is only a small part of the funding we provide to support enforcement activities. I am very conscious of the concerns Deputy Broughan has expressed. I recently visited the amenity open space and park and I am aware that constituents are very angry and frustrated at what has transpired there, with systematic illegal and criminal dumping.

As the Deputy acknowledged, I am precluded under law from exercising power in these matters in respect of a local authority because these are statutory functions of local authorities, which are enshrined in the Waste Management Act 1996. Nonetheless, in light of the concerns the Deputy and I share, I have used the powers available to my Department to help to address the issue. I hope he will recognise that far from seeking to let people down, I am seeking to find collaborative responses with the responsible agencies. My Department chairs the national waste enforcement steering committee through the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, another agency of my Department. The EPA plays an effective role on the committee and in other enforcement activities. I also provide funding for enforcement supports. Through these structures, the particular problems of the site on the R139 are being examined. Part of a wider drive enshrined in the 2019 strategy of the national waste enforcement steering committee is to target these consistent and persistent illegal dumping sites.

Officials from my Department recently visited the site and are working with the local authority and the EPA to examine the scope for a multi-agency response to this matter under the national waste enforcement steering committee. At the same time, Dublin City Council has established a task force from across its service departments with the aim of preparing short, medium and long-term plans for the site. This will include the use of relevant enforcement actions. Between these two initiatives, I hope a coherent response can be developed to address the very persistent and long-standing issues on the site.

As Deputy Broughan acknowledged, I launched a fund of €3 million and visited the area-----

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