Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if consideration will be given to establishing a national anti-illegal dumping campaign; if he is satisfied that current measures to prevent dumping are sufficient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11657/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy contains a range of actions designed to enhance waste enforcement, protect human health and the environment, provide a strong deterrent effect and bring about long term behavioural change. These include:- an enhanced role for the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs),

- the development of an anti-dumping toolkit for use by  local authorities,

- the development of an illegal and unauthorised sites action plan to assist local authorities,

- greater use of fixed penalty notices,

- data-proofing of waste legislation to facilitate the use of available and emerging technologies in a manner which is GDPR-compliant; and

- a new national communications and education programme, building on the work of the Waste Communications Strategy Group and the Waste Advisory Group.

I launched the national anti-dumping awareness communications campaign, "Your County, Your Waste" in November 2020, as part of the 2020 Anti-Dumping Initiative.  It includes a tailored suite of information and awareness messaging for use by local authorities and community and voluntary groups.

Over €3 million was allocated to local authorities in 2020 under the national Anti-Dumping Initiative and, while allocations for 2021 have yet to be finalised, my Department will continue to provide funding to local authorities under the Initiative to enable them to work in partnership with community organisations in identifying problem areas, developing appropriate prevention and enforcement responses and carrying out appropriate clean-up operations.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the cost of illegal dumping to Cork City Council from 2018 to 2020; the number of fines issued for each of these years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11658/21]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the cost of illegal dumping to Cork County Council from 2018 to 2020; the number of fines issued for each of these years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11659/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 84 together.

Enforcement actions against illegal waste activity are a matter for the local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). My Department does not compile statistics in relation to costs incurred or fines imposed by individual local authorities.

The EPA compiles comparative statistics on local authority performance relating to their waste enforcement activity under the Recommended Criteria for Environmental Inspection (RMCEI) process. Their most recent report in this regard is for the period 2018 and is available on their website at www.epa.ie. The 2019 report is due for publication in March of this year.

Information is also available through the Local Government Management Agency’s series of service indicators annual reports which are available from the publications section of the LGMA’s website

The Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLA) Annual Report for 2019, available at www.werla.ie also contains useful data regarding actions taken by the wider local authority sector under the Waste Management Act.

Illegal dumping is first and foremost a matter of individual responsibility and compliance with the law.  While enforcement action in this area is a matter in the first instance for local authorities. My Department encourages a multi-facetted approach to tackling the problem, incorporating enforcement, public awareness and education and, as such, provides significant funding to support the activities of both the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) and the national network of local authority waste enforcement officers. Questions in relation to the full annual costs of waste enforcement by individual local authorities should be directed towards those specific authorities.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress being made regarding legislation to allow local authorities to erect CCTV cameras in locations to prevent dumping of waste; and when it will be brought before Dáil Éireann. [11733/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I refer to the reply to Question No [9032/21] of 18 February 2021.  The position is unchanged.