Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
11 Ms McManus asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if in regard to his statement at the recent launch of the annual report of the Environmental Protection Agency, the steps he plans to take to deal with creeping criminality in waste disposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16509/04]
View answer39 Ms O’Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the investigation that has been held into allegations of widespread illegal dumping of waste from the Republic in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16514/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 39 together.
Since taking up office, I have assigned high priority to securing better enforcement of the waste code. There can be no excuse for illegal waste activities, irrespective of whether they take the form of illegal dumping within the State or the illegal exportation of waste to another jurisdiction. While I am not in a position to comment on individual cases of suggested illegal waste dumping activities in this jurisdiction, I wish to outline to the House details of a number of important initiatives I have taken in relation to enforcement generally.
First, I took the opportunity of the Protection of the Environment Act 2003 to provide new enforcement powers and to increase the maximum fines for contraventions of the waste code. Conviction on indictment for an offence under the Waste Management Acts now carries a maximum fine of €15 million, as well as a term of imprisonment of up to ten years.
Second, I have recognised the need for improved structural arrangements to underpin the enforcement effort. I announced last October the establishment of a new Office of Environmental Enforcement, OEE, located within the Environmental Protection Agency. While it has a wide remit, the OEE, at my request, is focusing on waste-related enforcement activities in its early stages and is already operational in this area. In particular, the OEE is about to initiate a comprehensive study to try better to quantify the scale of illegal activities and I have made a commitment to introduce further enforcement initiatives that may be necessary on foot of the outcome of this study.
Third, I have acknowledged the importance of providing additional resources to underpin the waste enforcement effort. In that regard, I have allocated €7 million from the environment fund to support the first year of a major five year programme of local authority waste enforcement activities. The aim is to provide a stronger and more visible local authority enforcement presence on the ground and to ensure more frequent inspections and speedier responses to reported instances of illegal dumping.
As regards reported incidences of illegal cross-Border dumping in Northern Ireland, I discussed this issue at some length at a meeting less than two months ago with my counterpart at the Northern Ireland Office, Ms Angela Smith, MP. On foot of these discussions, a high level meeting was held on 21 May 2004, involving representatives from my Department and the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland, as well as from local authorities North and South, the Office of Environmental Enforcement, the Garda Síochána, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the respective customs services. At this meeting, useful discussions took place, particularly in relation to the scope for securing better inter-agency co-operation on enforcement. I am confident that this engagement, which will continue on an ongoing basis, will yield more effective enforcement operations in the short term.
I assure the House that the relevant authorities in this jurisdiction will continue to co-operate actively with the authorities in Northern Ireland with a view to dealing effectively with the illegal cross-Border waste movements issue.
