Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide funding to South Dublin County Council to allow the authority to continue to effectively tackle the scourge of graffiti which creates much upset in local communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56932/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Management and enforcement responses to litter problems, including defacement by graffiti, are a primary responsibility of each local authority to be met from their existing resources. I am well aware of the major blight on communities caused by graffiti. To this end, and in order to support efforts to tackle graffiti , m y Department provides funding to local authorities under the anti-litter and anti-graffiti awareness gra nt scheme to encourage long-term behavioural change in this regard. It is a matter for each local authority to apply for funding for suitable projects under this scheme. The grant allocation in 2012 for South Dublin County Council under the scheme was €35,000.

It is a matter for each local authority, in this case South Dublin County Council, to ensure that their functional area is, as far as practicable, kept free of litter, including graffiti. I am satisfied that local authorities have adequate powers under the Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2009 to tackle the problem of graffiti and adequate resources to discharge their responsibilities. Sections 19 and 20 of the 1997 Act empower local authorities to take action in relation to graffiti and, as necessary, to remove or otherwise remedy the defacement. Each local authority must determine the level of expenditure on individual local services as part of its annual estimates process and prioritise its resources accordingly.