Vol. 537 No. 3
71 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the funding spent by his Department each year for the past four years in promoting anti-litter initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15908/01]
Since 1997, my Department has spent more than £2 million on a targeted programme of measures to support local authority action against litter, as follows: 1997 – £402,000; 1998 – £429,000; 1999 – £517,000; 2000 – £730,000. The litter subhead provision for 2001 is £950,000. The expenditure of £2 million included grants of £1.4 million to local authorities for local anti-litter initiatives to promote public education and awareness about litter; £260,000 for co-funding the An Taisce led national spring clean campaigns of 1999 and 2000; £220,000 to date for the development of a national litter pollution monitoring system to monitor and assess local authority litter management and enforcement action and to advise my Department on litter management planning at national level; £180,000 on various public awareness and advertising initiatives, development of anti-litter materials and leaflets, commissioning, printing and publication of national litter surveys, etc. and £18,500 in respect of the establishment and operation of the National Anti-Litter Forum.
