Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 July 2016
322. Deputy Pat Casey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the funding of the PURE project, protecting uplands and rural environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22217/16]
View answerThe Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments (PURE) initiative was established in 2006 to combat illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. PURE is a partnership project and incorporates statutory and non-statutory organisations, including Wicklow, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils, Coillte, National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the Wicklow Uplands Council. My Department, through the Environment Fund, has provided funding of over €966,000 to PURE since its inception. The progress and success of the PURE project has been evaluated a number of times in 2008, 2011 and 2014. The current agreement, for the period 2015-2016, provides for an allocation of some €180,000.
PURE will shortly submit a Project Evaluation Report for the 2015-2016 period to my Department. It is anticipated that PURE will also submit a formal proposal for an extension of the project. Any such proposal, when received, will be considered then with regard to the most recent evaluation report, and the availability of funding from the Environment Fund.
