Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are at the end of our annual spring clean month. Many volunteers, amenity trusts and local authorities have done marvellous work across the country in a big clean-up. It is important we say "Well done" to them. Volunteers and those in the amenity trusts are unsung heroes. They are the people who get out and sweep and clean. We need to make sure we give them the praise they deserve.

I was disappointed to read in a national newspaper over the weekend that on Friday a Dublin-based DJ captured photos of bins overflowing with rubbish, grass covered in bottles, cans, food wrappers, cardboard boxes, napkins and food waste along the canal at Portobello following the lovely sunny day. I was disgusted by the level of dumping. The photographs have to be seen to be believed. In recent years, following a popular music festival, a local Carlow charity filmed a mind-boggling amount of rubbish, including really good quality camping equipment left behind. The video went viral because there was so much rubbish one could hardly see the grass. Someone has to pick it up.

This month I was blown away by the number of people who took part in the annual Carlow spring clean. The nationwide activity was made all the better because of the sunshine and warm temperatures. The bright sun shone like a light on a really sinister aspect of our attitude to the environment. There is a perception that someone else will pick up after us. While I was out on a local annual spring clean I heard an eight year old girl call out, as she was picking up rubbish, "Do they think that ditches are wardrobes?" Why do people feel they can litter, dump or pollute? Why do we just lie down and accept this behaviour? There are caravans, camper vans and broken down cars on green areas across the country. Drink bottles and clothing are often seen from tourist buses. "Wild", "hidden" and "ancient" are great buzzwords in our fabulous tourism sector. Local authorities and communities are trying their best but something has to be done. There has to be consequences for illegal dumping. We need to look at how we are dealing with these issues.This situation needs to be addressed and we must ensure that people do not dump or pollute illegally.