Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, for bringing forward this Bill and outlining his intentions. His motivation comes from a deep-rooted sense of community and his involvement in local government over nearly 20 years. I have been involved for the same time. We were both elected in 1999, and back then the environment departments of our local authorities were probably the smallest components of local government. They are probably one of the largest sections now because of the large swathe of areas they must deal with, especially the scourge of illegal dumping.

As Senator Malcolm Byrne has done, I pay tribute to all those who have used this Chamber to try to tackle the issue. I refer to Senator Wall and, from my own county, Senator Keogan. It is sad that we must go down this road and that we find ourselves at this crossroads where it is necessary to bring forward legislation to try to deal with the problem because many people are compliant. In the same way that a tax was imposed on plastic bags many years ago by the then Minister, Noel Dempsey, we must face this scenario. On one hand, some people are engaging in personal illegal dumping while, on the other hand, there are those who have commercialised this activity to the point where it is an industry. In responding to that, we must now arm the environmental departments in our local authorities with the full powers of the law to ensure they have the teeth required to pursue those who want to flout the law and destroy our rural and urban areas.

Senator Malcolm Byrne mentioned his research and the amount of money illegal dumping ends up costing the local authorities and, by extension, the public through local charges and rates' bills. The cumulative estimate was put at €100 million annually. In County Meath, we had a well-publicised case two years ago where one incident alone cost taxpayers some €6 million. The then environmental engineer, Declan Grimes, testified during the court case that 51 companies were involved in bringing waste to a 267-acre farm. The fallout from that illegal dumping was not just, as Senator Malcolm Byrne has said, the financial cost faced by taxpayers but also the environmental impact and the massive damage done to a particular area in Enfield.

We saw a marked increase during lockdown in the scourge of illegal dumping. Many local authorities tried to react positively by removing the charge at recycling centres to try to counteract that activity. We must also approach this issue in a positive manner in respect of the steps that can be taken to negate the need to use these unauthorised people who go around and put leaflets through people's doors to encourage them to engage in illegal dumping. As the Garda has said many times, people should think twice before they use such services. The reality is that many people still use them and illegal dumping is happening on many levels, from ad hocactivities to organised endeavours.

In responding to this situation, the type of technology that is available to us should be used, as Senator Malcolm Byrne said. The required powers should be given to local authorities to do so. There was alacuna in this area. Senator Keogan and I know this because Meath County Council and different groups were using the available technology for community group and local authority purposes. We must ensure now that we put this approach on a statutory footing, that we have the full powers of the law behind our local authorities and that we tackle this situation once and for all.As a result, we need to ensure that we put this on a statutory footing and that we have the full powers of the law behind our local authorities to tackle the issue once and for all. We must ensure that we bring around cultural change so that it is no longer acceptable in this country. I want to pay tribute to Senator Malcolm Byrne. As I said, I hope we see the progression of this Bill and that it is positively received.