Vol. 495 No. 1
49 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of full-time litter wardens appointed by local authorities to date; the number of local authorities with full-time litter wardens; whether every local authority has submitted a litter abatement plan to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19268/98]
305 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the steps, if any, he is taking to reduce the amount of litter on our streets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19310/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 and 305 together.
The primary management and enforcement responses to the problem of litter pollution must come from local authorities. Statistical returns made to my Department by local authorities for the six month period ended June 1998 show that 26 local authorities employed a total of 54 full-time litter wardens. A further 42 local authorities employed a total fo 137 part-time wardens. These figures show a significant improvement on the total of 138 wardens — both full and part-time — employed at the end of last year. In addition, local authorities have stepped up their enforcement of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 — the statistics for the first six months of this year are now available in the Oireachtas Library.
While I am satisfied that local authorities are beginning to use their flexible and extensive powers under the 1997 Act to combat litter, there is a continuing need for more responsible action on the part of the public and more rigorous enforcement of the law by the local authorities. To this end, I announced, in June this year, a series of measures to combat the country's continuing litter pollution problem. These measures will support the strengthened local authority action on litter.
In relation to litter management plans, under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, local authorities are not obliged to submit a copy of their plans to my Department; however, 65 local authorities have forwarded a copy for information purposes.
