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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 3 Dec 1998

Vol. 497 No. 7

Written Answers - Litter Pollution.

Olivia Mitchell

Question:

151 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his views on whether it is impossible for local authorities, even those with the services of a litter warden, to enforce all the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997; and if he will ensure, through liaison with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, that every garda has a full knowledge of the provisions of the Act. [26135/98]

I am satisfied that local authorities are enforcing the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997. A comparison of the statistics on local authority enforcement action for the first six months of 1998 with figures for the first and second halves of 1997 shows that the authorities have stepped up enforcement since the Act came into effect in July 1997. More litter wardens are being employed and more prosecutions and on-the-sport fine notices are being issued, as the fol lowing table shows:

Wardens

Prosecution

Convictions

On-the-spot Fines

Full

Part-time

Issued

Paid

1997 Jan-June

29

56

146

100

981

580

1997 July-Dec.

45

93

184

120

2,277

1,099

1998 Jan-June

54

137

507

246

3,175

1,286

Details of the individual local authority six month returns for 1998 and 1997 are available in the Oireachtas Library.
Local authorities were instructed by my Department in June 1997 to make the necessary arrangements to provide local Garda superintendents with a sufficient quantity of books of on-the-spot fine notices, in relation to prescribed offences under section 28 of the Act for use by the Garda. The Garda expressed satisfaction with these arrangements. A further circular issued to local authorities in February 1998 requesting them to ensure that the necessary arrangements had been put in place.
While improved performance, generally, may be attributed to the flexible and extensive powers available to local authorities under the 1997 Act, there is a continuing need for more responsible behaviour by the public as well as rigorous enforcement of the law by local authorities. For this reason, my initiatives in support of litter pollution control address public education and awareness as well as performance on the enforcement of the Litter Pollution Act.
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