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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I agree with him that this problem is caused by a relatively small minority of people whose behaviour does not do justice to the many communities that are making considerable efforts in this regard, as is Dublin City Council. I represent similar areas that are afflicted in the same way. It is important that the implications of this survey are taken seriously by those responsible. As the Deputy has indicated, Dublin City Council has primary responsibility for this issue. I am responsible for providing the legal framework within which it operates. To be fair to the council, with which I am familiar, it had a litter plan that ran from 2016 to 2018. I am sure it is in the course of being renewed. The council has an active litter warden service and operates a system of fines. Anyone who examines the statistics will be disappointed to see the rate of payment of fines and the level of success in prosecuting those involved.

I think the Deputy is right when he says that everyone needs to look at the detailed findings in the report. As he has said, the findings relate to several particular locations and the illegal dumping was not confined to those who do not accept their responsibility to use the collection service. Some of this is random. Coffee cups and cans are thrown away carelessly. As the Deputy has confirmed, there is evidence that some of the litter that was identified was very old, which suggests that areas had not been swept for a long time. It is important for Dublin City Council to sit down with the community to look at how improvements can be made.

We provide support for awareness campaigns in schools. We fund the green schools initiative and the anti-graffiti awareness schemes. Local authorities can apply for funds. In addition, I have increased the budget for our anti-dumping initiative by 50%, to over €3 million, this year. Applications from the various local authorities had to be received by the end of April. I hope the city council, which is aware of the difficulties in a number of parts of the city, has made submissions to tackle this problem. I am familiar with the street sweeping approach. The Deputy is correct when he says this happens infrequently. Nonetheless, the council seeks to respond to individual complaints when it receives requests for street sweeping on the fixyourstreet.ieplatform.

While the issues raised by the Deputy are disappointing - I can understand his frustration - there is an opportunity for us to develop a multi-agency approach to these matters that involves the community and some of the regional and national enforcement authorities that are seeking to target illegal dumping, in particular, this year. I am wholly sympathetic to the Deputy's concerns. I think reports like this can act as a spur to improvements. The overall picture depicted in this report is one of improvement. Some areas that have been found wanting in the past have improved their performances significantly by working together. I hope the same improvements can be achieved in respect of Ballymun.

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