Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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1389. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason no funds from the national lottery have been allocated to work on the natural environment; and if his Government will commit to apportioning part of this income to environmental work. [30513/15]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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1392. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will make national lottery funding available to the Irish Environmental Network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30539/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1389 and 1392 together.

Section 41(1) of the National Lotteries Act 2013 enables National Lottery monies paid into the Central Fund to be allocated for the purposes of the natural environment, as well as potentially for a range of other stated purposes. Lottery funding is a limited resource utilised across a range of Government Departments and Agencies. National Lottery funding channelled through my Department’s Vote currently supports a wide range of other worthy causes, including community groups and voluntary organisations. National Lottery funding is also distributed by other Departments to groups working in areas such as disability, health and sport.

It is important to note that, should National Lottery funding be re-allocated to the natural environment, corresponding reductions would be required in other areas which are currently in receipt of such funding, within my own Department and also potentially within other beneficiary Departments. Accordingly, re-allocation of funding to support the natural environment at the expense of one or more of these other sectors can only be undertaken following careful consideration. However, I intend to keep this matter under review as the budgetary situation improves in the years ahead.

In taking this view, I am conscious that the natural environment, uniquely amongst the broad range of areas funded by my Department, also receives funding from the Environment Fund, which was established under the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001. The Environment Fund comprises of the revenues from the environmental levy on the supply of plastic bags, collected by the Revenue Commissioners, and the environmental levy on the landfilling of waste, collected by local authorities.

The Environment Fund is used for activities or initiatives in a range of areas such as, inter alia, schemes to prevent/reduce waste and waste recovery activities; research & development into waste management; support of education and training and promotion of awareness of the need to protect the environment, including national and regional campaigns; and initiatives undertaken by community groups and others for protection of the environment.

From 2011 to 2014, in excess of €255 million was disbursed to the environment sector from the Environment Fund. This is in addition to some €146 million provided to the environment sector by way of Exchequer Voted expenditure by my Department. In 2015, I made Fund allocations totalling €825,000 to the Irish Environmental Network and the Environmental Pillar. The total allocations from the Fund in 2015 amount to in excess of €44 million.