Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is the fourth time in the past two years that I have raised the issue of illegal dumping in the House. It continues to be a major scourge on the landscape and it is particularly a problem in rural areas. Penalties for those caught in the act of illegal dumping are not strict enough. We still have the ridiculous situation whereby a person caught on CCTV in the act of illegal dumping cannot be brought to court. It was recently reported that illegal dumping is costing local authorities up to €90 million per annum. This does not factor in the time and effort of Tidy Towns committees and volunteers working in local communities on clean-ups.

When I raised this issue with the Taoiseach last March, he indicated that in his opinion privacy rights in regard to the CCTV footage of those caught in the act of illegal dumping should not apply and he would request legislation to be drafted to address this. Will the Minister please bring forward that legislation? He mentioned his constituency. The level of illegal dumping along a 1 km stretch of road on the outskirts of the Galway city is appalling. This has been going on for the past five years. This has to be dealt with it. It is destroying the rural countryside.

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