Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Hearts sank across the country with the realisation that the current lockdown restrictions are to be extended into April, particularly now as the evenings lengthen and people get out and about more. The lockdown has brought people a greater appreciation of the recreational tracks and trails that we have within 5 km of our homes. What infuriates us all is the scale of littering and illegal dumping that is taking place in such locations. The public are relying on these amenities, yet thoughtless people are littering with everything from dog-fouling to cigarette butts and coffee cups. Then we have downright criminal behaviour where individuals are dumping everything from bags to van loads of rubbish in these scenic locations. Since the start of the pandemic, some local authorities have seen a jump of up to 30% in illegal dumping of household waste and household clear-outs. Dublin City Council's street cleaning crews have even encountered a bath dumped on Bride Street close to Christ Church Cathedral.

I fully accept that there is no single solution to this particular problem. It requires improved facilities, particularly for bulky goods. If, for example, a couch or a mattress is dumped at a location, it attracts other illegal dumping and soon becomes a rat-infested open landfill site. That is why, in 2017, I provided funding for community clean-ups across the country and, in 2018, under the national mattress amnesty campaign, 11,000 mattresses were collected and properly recycled by local authorities.

We also must improve enforcement of the laws. While amendments to the Litter Pollution Act to increase on-the-spot fines from €150 to €250 have been drafted since 2018, they have yet to be introduced. Facilities and fines are a move in the right direction but unless we hit those who carry out this illegal activity where it hurts - in their pockets - we will never effectively address this growing problem. We must secure convictions and make clear examples of those involved in this crime, which is environmental and economic and has social impacts on the communities concerned.

Prosecutions can only be secured with unequivocal evidence and video evidence is by far the most effective tool in this regard. That is why funding has been provided to local authorities since 2017 to enhance CCTV and drone monitoring of illegal sites. However, we cannot progress this because of a decision taken by the Data Protection Commissioner that local authorities are not in a position to collect and use this data in securing prosecutions. This anomaly needs to be addressed urgently in the interests of protecting communities across the country.

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