Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1109: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has started to review litter laws to ascertain their effectiveness; and the progress of this review. [19976/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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My Department reviews the effectiveness of the Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2003 on an ongoing basis. Local authorities submit data to my Department every six months on their anti-litter enforcement actions under the Acts. These statistics are available in the Oireachtas Library and show that local authority performance on enforcement of the litter laws is being sustained at a high level.

Furthermore, the trends emerging from the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System, which measures the extent and severity of litter pollution nationwide, are generally positive and show a modest but steady reduction in litter levels.

I am deeply committed to tackling Ireland's litter problem and view litter eradication as an environmental priority. In order to send out a clear message to all members of society that litter pollution simply cannot be tolerated, I am increasing the on-the-spot litter fine from €125 to €150 from this Sunday, 30 September.

While I am satisfied that the current litter pollution legislation empowers local authorities to respond appropriately to the problem of litter, my Department will continue to keep it under review.