Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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631. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the clean-up cost of illegal dumping by county, in tabular form. [32629/17]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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632. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the detail of the allocation of the €1.3 million provided for anti-dumping initiatives, by county; and the detail of each of the initiatives undertaken in each county using the allocated budget and the budgetary period the €1.3 million has been allocated for, in tabular form. [32630/17]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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634. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the estimated cost of cleaning up illegal dumping by county, in tabular form. [32632/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 631, 632 and 634 together.

Enforcement action in relation to illegal dumping is a matter for the relevant local authority concerned and also the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE), which supervises the environmental protection activities of local authorities. The cost of illegal dumping is not collated by my Department as it includes local authority enforcement, disposal and legal costs and also involves costs for other State agencies such as An Garda Síochána. My role, as Minister, is to provide the legislative and policy framework under which both local authority and EPA enforcement action against illegal dumping is initiated.

My Department encourages a multi-facetted approach to tackling the problem, incorporating enforcement, public awareness and education. As such and in recognition of the impact of illegal dumping on communities across the country, in March of this year, I launched a national Anti-Dumping Initiative. The aim of this initiative is to provide funding for projects tackling illegal dumping including the provision of support for the clean-up, monitoring and surveillance of dumping black-spots. Funding of €650,000 was allocated under phase 1 of the Initiative.

85 projects were approved for funding from every county in the State, out of a total of 111 applications received. Successful applications have included projects that will equip authorities with the latest enforcement technologies including overt and covert surveillance equipment and drone technology to target dumpers. A range of clean-up and restorative projects led by community, environmental and sporting groups have also been approved as set out as follows.

On foot of this very positive response, I recently launched a second phase of this initiative with a further €650,000 being made available to community groups and other state agencies working in partnership to clean-up and prevent illegal dumping. Phase 2 applications are currently being assessed by Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authority Steering Committees and the additional projects which have been selected for funding will be announced shortly.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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633. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the detail of the allocation of the €9 million provided for enforcement against illegal dumping by county, in tabular form. [32631/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The quality of Ireland's environment is essential to the health and well-being of every citizen while industries such as tourism, agriculture and the food and drink sector depend on good quality air, land and water for the quality of their products and services. It makes absolute sense that we protect those resources through effective, proportionate and consistent systems of compliance and regulatory enforcement. Effective enforcement of waste legislation is vital for the credibility of our systems of waste management.

My role, as Minister, is to provide the legislative and policy framework under which both local authority and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement action against illegal waste activity is initiated. Notwithstanding this fact, I have made €9.9 million available from the Environment Fund this year to support:

- The recruitment and continued employment of a network of local authority waste enforcement officers under the Local Authority Enforcement Measures Scheme (€7.4 million);

- The work of the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) (€1 million);

- An anti-dumping initiative to support local authorities in targeting high risk or problem areas, developing appropriate enforcement responses and carrying out clean-up operations (€1.3 million);

- Individual Local Authority waste enforcement actions against suspected large scale illegal waste operators (€200,000).

This investment is critical in tackling issues such as illegal dumping in local communities and in providing an enhanced response on the ground to other infractions of the waste code. In that regard, my Department has continued to fund waste enforcement staff under the Local Authority Enforcement Measures Scheme and details of the grant allocated to each Local Authority under this scheme is detailed in the following table.

In addition to this scheme, my Department provides funding of €1 million to support the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) which were established in 2015 on foot of a review of the respective regulatory and enforcement roles of the EPA and local authorities. The review recommended the establishment of three regional lead authorities  to drive improved performance, increased coordination and greater consistency in waste enforcement. Cork County Council, Dublin City Council and Leitrim & Donegal County Councils (in a combined bid) were selected as the new Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities for the Southern, Eastern and Midlands, and Connacht /Ulster Regions respectively.

In recognition of the impact of illegal dumping on communities across the country, in March of this year, I launched the 2017 Anti-Dumping Initiative. The aim of this initiative is to provide funding for projects tackling illegal dumping including the provision of support for the clean-up, monitoring and surveillance of dumping blackspots. Funding is contingent on enforcement actions being taken by local authorities with respect to each site identified and on foot of the very positive response to this initiative the scheme has been extended with total funding of €1.3 million now being allocated.

Further funds have also been made available to assist local authorities in pursuing specific large scale and significant waste enforcement actions. This has resulted in the detection and cessation of significant illegal waste activity with important prosecutions being taken through the Courts. Approximately €200,000 has been allocated to support local authorities in this regard to date in 2017 and the provision of further financial assistance will continue to be considered on a case by case basis as the need arises.