Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising the issue. I acknowledge his long-term interest in this issue and the measures he has taken in the past in different capacities to deal effectively with it. The Deputy is correct in saying that illegal dumping is a scourge on the landscape and offenders should and must face the full rigours of the law. Penalties for illegal dumping are significant. There is a maximum fine of €5,000 on summary conviction and-or imprisonment for up to 12 months, with a maximum fine of €15 million in the Circuit Court on conviction on indictment or imprisonment for up to ten years.

Ireland's waste action plan for a circular economy, published in September of last year, commits the Government to implementing a range of measures, including to tackle the problem of illegal dumping. One of the commitments contained in the action plan is that "All waste enforcement legislation will be "data proofed" to ensure that all available and emerging technologies can be fully utilised in a manner which is GDPR compliant."

In September 2020, as the Deputy has said, the Data Protection Commissioner wrote to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications concerning data protection issues with the use of CCTV cameras for litter and waste enforcement purposes. The Data Protection Commission, DPC, is engaging with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, on the practical issues raised by the DPC. The Government is working to address these issues and the issues raised by the Deputy. This has seen the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications work on the draft heads of a circular economy Bill. Output from discussions between the CCMA and the DPC, as well as commitments on the waste action plan, are being examined for introduction in the Bill. Critically, this could help to ensure that the processing of personal data may be carried out by local authorities tasked with enforcing litter and waste law in order to protect the environment from the scourge of illegal dumping, while at the same time respecting the privacy rights of citizens. The upcoming circular economy Bill will also consider further changes to fixed penalty notices.

This is a significant issue that has emerged. It is the Data Protection Commission's view that although the Litter Pollution Act and Waste Management Act provide local authorities with powers to prevent, investigate, detect and prosecute littering and dumping offences, the Acts do not provide for processing of images of members of the public using CCTV footage. That advice is, as I said, being considered by the Department and is subject to internal legal advice.

This is an issue because the bottom line, from a public policy perspective, is that we want to stop illegal dumping and we have to use all the tools available to deal with that. I trust that in the forthcoming legislation this issue will be addressed in a way that enables local authorities to have full access to the technologies and powers necessary to stop this appalling behaviour where the landscape and streetscape of our country are being blighted by such wanton acts.

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