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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Jan 1990

Vol. 394 No. 8

Written Answers. - Prosecution of Local Authorities.

Roger T. Garland

Ceist:

344 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for the Environment , in respect of the last ten years, the number of local authorities which have been prosecuted or are in the process of being prosecuted for causing or being a party to the pollution of rivers, lakes and inland waterways or coastal waters by the discharge of sewage or other minerals, and the penalties imposed on these local authorities.

Regional fisheries boards, acting under the provisions of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959, may initiate prosecutions against local authorities for alleged water pollution offences attributed to sewage or other discharges arising from the activities of the authorities. The detailed information sought in respect of the last ten years is not available in my Department. Limited information relating only to the number of prosecutions taken by regional boards against local authorities since 1986, which is available to my Department, indicates the following postion:

Year

Number of Prosecutions

1986

2

1987

3

1988

5

1989

18

The Government have decided to eliminate by the year 2000 all pollution of inland waters by sewage discharges and to end the practice of untreated sewage discharges from major coastal towns by the same date as part of the action programme for the environment which I announced last Friday. These initiatives will involve investment of up to £630 million in the coming decade.
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