Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and his Department have not been made aware of any deterioration in the situation regarding abandoned vehicles. However, the Minister and I are of the view that it is important that the enforcement bodies stay on top of this matter. The Senator highlighted a significant issue. We have seen considerable improvements in this area since the transposition of the end-of-life vehicle directive into Irish legislation in 2014 and the subsequent adoption of our compliance scheme on the approach to the issue.

With regard to enforcement, section 71 of the Waste Management Act specifically prohibits the abandonment of vehicles on any land and creates an offence for so doing. It also enables local authorities to enter on any land upon which vehicles have been abandoned to remove and store such abandoned vehicles. Penalties under the Waste Management Act are substantial and may result in a fine of up to €5,000 and-or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months on foot of a summary conviction. In the case of conviction or on indictment, penalties may rise to fines of up to €15 million and-or a term of imprisonment of up to ten years.

The Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, which were made pursuant to section 97 of the Road Traffic Act, also give An Garda Síochána powers relating to the removal, storage and disposal of abandoned vehicles.

On the cost to local authorities of removing and storing abandoned vehicles, the vehicles become the property of the local authority if not reclaimed by the registered owner within a period of four weeks. If a registered owner comes forward or is identified, the local authority may then seek reimbursement of the expenditure incurred for removal and storage. It is important to note that the Waste Management (End-of-Life Vehicles) Regulations 2006 impose an obligation on the registered owner of a vehicle to dispose of it at an authorised treatment facility for appropriate treatment and recovery. It is generally not very expensive to do that.It is hard to comprehend how people would abandon them.

Under these regulations, authorised treatment facilities are obliged to provide for the free take-back of end-of-life vehicles and to issue a certificate of destruction to the registered owners. End-of-Life Vehicles Environmental Services, ELVES, CLG is a not-for-profit company established in 2017 which has been approved as the compliance scheme for the ELV sector in Ireland. The scheme is funded by fees from producer members amounting to approximately €1.7 million per annum. The principal objective of this compliance scheme is the attainment of the national targets as set out in EC Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles. ELVES has also established a fund to assist local authorities with abandoned vehicles.

The success of our approach in this area is demonstrated by the most recently available results, which indicate that in 2020, Ireland achieved a 90% reuse and recycling rate and a 97% recovery and reuse rate for end-of-life vehicles, comfortably meeting EC targets in this regard.

The Minister’s Department will continue, as co-chair of the national waste enforcement steering committee, NWESC, to oversee waste enforcement efforts, including those relating to abandoned and end-of-life vehicles, to encourage ongoing collaboration between the local authorities and An Garda Síochána and to develop appropriate policy interventions to specific issues as they may arise. In this regard, the Minister welcomes the ongoing development of the regional multi-agency forums, which were launched by An Garda Síochána in 2020 in association with the Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the waste enforcement regional lead authorities, and the National TransFrontier Shipment Office. The key objective of these forums is to facilitate a co-ordinated approach to enforcement efforts across the regions in the area of waste and environment-related crime. It should also be noted that the NWESC has identified enforcement of the ELV directive, and more generally the waste metal industry, as a national waste enforcement priority for the period 2022 to 2024.

If it okay with the Senator, I will come back in again on the supplementary question on the specific issue.