Written answers

Tuesday, 14 December 2021

Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Illegal Dumping

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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72. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the actions being undertaken by his Department to address the scourge of illegal dumping. [61429/21]

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the initiatives that his Department has delivered in order to tackle rubbish, illegal dumping and fly-tipping; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61519/21]

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 84 together.

The annual Anti-Dumping Initiative (ADI) was introduced in 2017 to encourage a collaborative approach between local authorities, communities, and other State Agencies to tackling the problem of illegal dumping. Delivery of the ADI is co-ordinated by the three Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) and supported projects are selected based on their impact on four key criteria - prevention, abatement, enforcement, and awareness. Since its introduction, funding of over €9 million has been provided by my Department under the Initiative, which has supported the delivery of over 1,000 projects across all 31 local authorities. Full details of funding, broken down by local authority and individual project, for each of the years 2017-2020 are available on the gov.ie website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/e27ac-anti-dumping-initiative/​

A further €3m has been allocated to local authorities under the 2021 ADI. Payments are currently being processed and details will be made available on the gov.ie website when the process is complete. Allocations under the ADI for 2022 have yet to be finalised, but it is likely that a similar amount will be made available to local authorities in 2022 under the Initiative.

My Department also continues to invest significantly in the local authority waste enforcement network under the Local Authority Waste Enforcement Measures Grant Scheme, with the intention of maintaining a visible presence of waste enforcement personnel on the ground across the State. Over €7.7m was provided to local authorities under the scheme in 2021, in order to support the recruitment and retention of over 150 local authority waste enforcement staff across the country.

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