Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
225. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of persons convicted of illegal dumping in Cork City Council and Cork County Council areas in each of the years 2018 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16893/21]
View answerEnforcement actions against illegal waste activity are a matter for local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA compiles comparative statistics on local authority performance relating to its waste enforcement activity under the Recommended Criteria for Environmental Inspection (RMCEI) process. Its most recent report for 2019 is available at epa.ie.
Information is also available through the Local Government Management Agency's series of service indicators annual reports which are available at lgma.ie. The Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) Annual Report for 2019, available at werla.ie, also contains useful data regarding actions taken by the wider local authority sector under the Waste Management Act.
While waste enforcement action is a matter in the first instance for local authorities, my Department encourages a multi-facetted approach to tackling the problem, incorporating enforcement, public awareness and education and, provides significant funding to support the activities of both the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) and the national network of local authority waste enforcement officers.
Questions in relation to the full annual costs of waste enforcement, litter fines imposed, convictions obtained and prosecutions taken by individual local authorities should be directed towards those specific authorities.
