Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 224: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the dialogue he has had with Kildare County Council following the publication of the Irish Business against Litter survey in May 2006; if he has satisfied himself that Kildare County Council has sufficient staffing and financial resources to ensure adequate enforcement of the litter laws and seven day street sweeping systems; if he agrees with IBAL that these two elements are of key importance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24251/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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IBAL is one of a number of anti-litter initiatives assisted by my Department aimed at raising public awareness of litter pollution and energising support for local authority anti-litter actions. This specific initiative has been supported since 2003. My Department liaise on a regular basis with local authorities in relation to anti-litter initiatives and activities, including IBAL.

Under the Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2003, primary responsibility for tackling litter pollution, including allocation of resources, rests with local authorities. The appointment of litter wardens, within each authority's current authorised staffing level, is also a matter for individual local authorities and is one in which my Department has no function.

Each local authority determines its level of expenditure on individual local services, including its anti-litter operations, as part of its annual estimates process. Such expenditure is funded from a variety of sources such as rates, fees, charges and the Local Government Fund. Since 2003, Kildare County Council has received increases in general purpose funding from the Local Government Fund in excess of 44%. In 2006, the general purpose allocation for Kildare County Council is €23.8 million, representing an increase of 9.6% over 2005 and is well ahead of the corresponding national average increase of 6.73%.

In addition, since 2003 my Department has allocated a total of over €1.85 million in grants to local authorities for public education and awareness initiatives against litter: Kildare County Council received €62,000 in grant aid during this period. I envisage making further allocations of this kind to local authorities in 2006.

The National Litter Pollution Monitoring System, which measures the extent and severity of litter pollution nationally, shows that there has been an improvement in litter pollution levels countrywide in recent years. The positive trend shown by the Monitoring system is also reflected in the IBAL League results, which record that cleanliness levels in the 53 participating towns and cities are generally improving.

Litter enforcement statistics are available in the Oireachtas Library and show that local authority performance on enforcement of the litter laws continues to improve. More litter wardens have been employed and there have been substantial increases in the number of prosecutions taken and on-the-spot fines issued annually.

The eradication of litter pollution will only be achieved through a partnership approach in which all sectors — businesses, community groups, residents associations, schools and individuals — play their part. In addition to enforcement of our litter laws, awareness raising and education initiatives are vitally important if we are to change the behaviour and attitude of people, so that they dispose of their litter in a responsible way.