I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together.
As I stated in reply to a question by the Deputy on 22nd April, 1971, the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 1964, enable sanitary authorities to take action against a person responsible for dumping matter which is a nuisance or injurious to health and to make by-laws for the prevention of nuisances arising from the deposit of rubbish.
The provisions of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, enable planning authorities or the Garda to take action against persons creating litter by dumping organic matter or rubbish.
Furthermore, where an abandoned vehicle causes danger or obstruction or is illegally parked, the Garda Síochána may prosecute the person who left it there.
These statutes provide a wide range of powers. The problem appears to be one of difficulty in identifying offenders rather than one of deficiency in the law of staffing. As to derelict vehicles in particular, I doubt if it would be appropriate to propose legislation making the last registered owner responsible for the abandonment of such a vehicle, since very often the derelict vehicle had either left the ownership of the last registered owners when it was abandoned or was left in such a condition as to be unidentifiable. A more practical approach is to provide effective powers for the removal of abandoned vehicles, and in this regard the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1971, enable a road authority to remove, store and dispose of a vehicle, which has been abandoned on a public road or in a public car park or which is illegally parked.