Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Tackling illegal dumping and other waste crime is a priority for the Minister and his Department, which continues to provide substantial support to local authorities dealing with challenging waste enforcement cases.

Illegal dumping is first and foremost a matter of individual responsibility and compliance with the law. In accordance with the provisions of the Waste Management Act 1996, each local authority is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of the relevant provisions of the Act in relation to the holding, recovery and disposal of waste within its functional area. It is necessary to advise the House that under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications is precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance by a local authority, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it. Under the legislation, individual local authorities are responsible for dealing with cases involving the illegal disposal of waste in their functional areas and it is a matter for them to take the appropriate enforcement and clean-up actions. However, the national waste enforcement steering committee, NWESC, which is co-chaired by the Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has provided assistance to Dublin City Council, DCC, in relation to this site, in bringing together relevant NWESC member agencies such as An Garda Síochána, Revenue and the Department of Social Protection to assist DCC in its efforts.

The operation has resulted in the impounding of vehicles used for alleged unauthorised waste activities and the initiation of prosecutions. There are also investigations under way by DCC, with the assistance of An Garda Síochána, into ongoing breaches of the Waste Management Act 1996. Patrols, together with regular clean-up and maintenance operations by DCC, are continuing.

The ultimate objective is to clean up and secure the site as part of an overall and sustainable solution, which will include the development of the site and surrounding area by DCC. Specialist environmental consultants have been engaged by DCC to undertake environmental assessments to gauge the scale and types of waste involved and the subsequent means and level of clean-up that might be required. The clean-up of this site will be carried out in conjunction with the overall development of the area by DCC. Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications officials will receive further reports from DCC, via the NWESC, as this progresses. In the interim, DCC is actively engaged at a senior level with An Garda Síochána in ongoing efforts to eliminate illegal dumping in this area. Both the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I are fully aware of the challenges that illegal dumping poses to our regulatory authorities and the impact it has on communities. I will be raising this directly with the Minister.

See this speech in context