David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the policy of his Department regarding littering and the dumping of household refuse and waste on the roadside and throughout the countryside; the action his Department is taking and the funds made available to reduce same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42617/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2003, primary responsibility for developing and implementing responses to litter lies with local authorities. Local authorities are required, so far as is practicable, to ensure that public roads in their functional areas are kept free of litter. They are also required to take all practicable measures for the prevention, control and disposal of litter in their functional areas.

Each local authority determines its level of expenditure on individual local services, including anti-litter and clean-up operations. Statistics available to my Department show that local authorities have substantially increased expenditure on road/street cleaning services. In 2005 local authorities spent €74 million on road/street cleaning, compared to €43 million in 2000 — an increase of 72%.

To support more effective local authority action against litter my Department has allocated over €5.7 million since 1997 to local authorities for public education and awareness initiatives against litter. My Department also provides financial support for two national anti-litter initiatives i.e. the An Taisce-led project, National Spring Clean and the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) National Litter League, and has developed the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS) currently being implemented by local authorities. The NLPMS, 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.

Under the Waste Management Act 1996 persons holding, transporting recovering or disposing of waste may not do so in a manner which causes, or is likely to cause, environmental pollution. Enforcement is a matter for the local authorities and the EPA's Office of Environmental Enforcement.

My Department has provided €7.5 million this year to local authorities from the Environment Fund, to assist them in their waste enforcement activities generally. The funding is part of a programme of additional law enforcement in relation to waste activities. The purpose of the grant assistance is to provide highly visible on-the-ground enforcement staff and to help create a culture of compliance.

I am satisfied that existing anti-litter actions and waste enforcement activities by local authorities, together with my Department's support for the above initiatives, provide an effective and appropriate basis for tackling litter pollution and illegal dumping nationally.