Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
213. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the additional measures he is considering to address illegal dumping in the countryside; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7291/22]
View answerThe Waste Management Act provides the statutory framework to combat illegal dumping. Under the Act, the primary responsibility for waste management and enforcement lies with the Local Authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is a matter for each Local Authority to determine the most appropriate course of action to tackle illegal dumping locally within the legislation provided.
My Department introduced the Anti-Dumping Initiative (ADI) in 2017 to encourage a collaborative approach between local authorities, communities, and other State Agencies to tackling the problem of illegal dumping. Funding of over €12 million has been provided by my Department under the Initiative, which has supported the delivery of over 1,250 projects nationwide. Details of funding, broken down by local authority and individual project, for each of the years 2017-2021 are available on the gov.ie website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/e27ac-anti-dumping-initiative/
Allocations for 2022 have yet to be finalised, but it is likely that a further €3mn will be made available to support the Initiative in 2022.
My Department also continues to invest significantly in the local authority waste enforcement network under the Local Authority Waste Enforcement Measures Grant Scheme, with the intention of maintaining a visible presence of waste enforcement personnel on the ground across the State. Over €7.7m was provided to local authorities under the scheme in 2021, while my Department also provides ongoing support (€1mn in 2021) to the Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities, which were established to position the local authority sector to better respond to emerging and priority waste enforcement challenges.
It is also my intention under the Circular Economy Bill to facilitate the use of CCTV and other Audio Visual Recording (AVR) equipment in order to assist local authorities in their efforts to combat illegal dumping. I am satisfied that local authorities have the necessary resources in place to continue to effectively tackle illegal dumping.
