Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 Jun 2001

Vol. 539 No. 1

Written Answers. - Litter Pollution.

Richard Bruton

Question:

299 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of litter fines which have been issued in the most recent 12 months for which he has figures, distinguishing those issued in Dublin and in the rest of the country; the amount of money collected in each case; the proportion of fines that remain unpaid; the reasons for the poor enforcement of fines issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18543/01]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace)

The information requested is set out in the following table.

Litter Fines: January-December 2000*

	On-the-spotfines issued	Fine income(£)	Unpaid%
Four Dublin localauthorities	18,600	374,100	60
Other localauthorities	9,500	236,600	50
Total	28,100	610,700	56

*Provisional

Local authorities have primary responsibility for enforcement of litter legislation. In response to a request from my Department, local authorities have indicated that the level of litter on-the-spot fine payment is affected by a range of factors, including offenders giving false or misleading information, offenders moving address, fines being waived on compassionate grounds, lapse of the statutory period for pursuing non-payment, fine notices being incorrectly issued, and two or more fine notices being issued for the same offence, for example to a number of occupants of a house, where the local authority subsequently deems it more appropriate to accept a single payment.

The period since 1997 has seen significant improvement in local authority litter enforcement performance generally. The Government's litter action plan, published last February, calls for further intensification of the local authority enforcement effort and, in particular, for improvements in performance to be extended to all local authorities. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government and I will continue to take every opportunity to urge local authorities to enforce the litter laws more rigorously, including taking follow-up action in relation to non-payment of fines.