I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The Bill is an integral part of the anti-litter initiative Action Against Litter which was launched last February. Local authorities must have adequate statutory powers to undertake the task of litter prevention and control. Their existing powers have been set out in the Litter Act, 1982. However, shortcomings in this legislation have emerged over the years and it is now opportune to restate litter legislation comprehensively, to sharpen its focus and to broaden the legislative and regulatory instruments available for combating litter.
The essential purposes of this Bill are to put in place a wide-ranging legislative charter for action against litter; to spell out clearly what occupiers of property must do to keep their property free of litter and to set out the duties of local authorities for preventing and controlling litter. The Bill will provide a good statutory framework for dealing with the problem of litter.
Before elaborating on the concepts of the Bill, I will set out some background factors. Litter is a serious environmental problem in Ireland. While not highly toxic or, as a general rule, liable to inflict lasting damage on ecosystems, litter is still a visible and objectionable form of environmental degradation that damages the Irish countryside. While there are many reasons we should strive for a high quality environment, we should not overlook the obvious reason that a clean environment presents a positive and attractive image, and that people prefer to live and do their business in this kind of setting.
Litter is one of the most immediate threats to this sense of amenity. It undermines and challenges the credibility of other policies and measures for protecting the environment. It runs down shopping, business and residential areas and damages efforts to promote tourism, conservation and heritage protection. It also compromises our ability to attract and consolidate commercial development.
To quantify the extent of the problem countrywide my Department commissioned a national litter survey to provide an accurate assessment of the incidence of litter. This survey was conducted in October 1995 at various locations throughout the country and was designed to establish a detailed breakdown of the composition of litter and to identify and classify typical types of littered locations.
The main findings of the survey were that very few of the places inspected were either totally free of litter or grossly littered. However, more than 80 per cent of sites surveyed were found to have significant amounts of litter. The incidence of litter was prevalent and is especially likely to be found near fast food outlets, automatic bank telling machines and near secondary schools. The survey has been made available to all local authorities and will serve to give factual guidance to local initiatives. It also establishes a baseline against which progress can be monitored for the future.
Shortly after taking office in this Administration, the Minister for the Environment indicated that a more urgent and aggressive approach to litter prevention would be promoted. At the beginning of this year, the Action Against Litter initiative was launched. It is built on four main foundations: improving local authority performance, including more effective enforcement against offenders; reforming, updating and streamlining litter legislation; promoting public awareness and education, and developing effective partnerships with commercial and voluntary interests to combat litter. To drive this initiative, a new anti-litter unit was established within my Department with a dedicated budget in support of the campaign.
Image and quality of service must be vital concerns of the modern local government system. Local authorities have to serve the public in many ways, but most fundamentally, they are charged with maintaining a functional and attractive local environment, one in which local people can take pride and which visitors and investors will also appreciate.
Good progress is being made in the delivery of a much improved local environment. Urban areas are being revitalised and made more accessible. The quality and design of social housing is being improved. Major urban air pollution problems have been addressed and modern water supply and waste water treatment systems are being extended.
Local authorities have a key role to play in tackling the problem of litter. Some local authorities have reasonably effective arrangements in place; others are stepping up their performances. However, there is still much to be done because overall performance is uneven.
When the Minister for the Environment met local authorities earlier this year specifically on this issue he asked them to move litter prevention and control up the scale of their priorities and that as a first step they should prepare litter abatement plans for each of their areas in consultation with business interests and community groups. Already more than 40 authorities have completed these litter abatement plans and the other authorities are finalising them. Local authorities generally agree that their approach to litter needs to be sharpened. I am confident that in 1997 we will see a significant stepping up of prevention and control of litter by local authorities.
In dealing with litter prevention and control, we need compliance with the spirit as well as with the letter of the law. A strong emphasis of the Action Against Litter initiative is to promote education and awareness across all sections of the community. It is essential to promote understanding by young people, from an early age, of the degradation caused by litter. To approach this task in a structured way, educational materials for schools have been specially prepared for the Department by one of the specialist teaching centres. These materials have been circulated to all first and second level schools and I am happy to confirm from responses to a recent questionnaire sent to schools that the issue of litter is now being enthusiastically addressed in our schools.
Young people are not the sole offenders in relation to litter. Adults, young and old, can also be indifferent to litter and its spoiling effects. Given that there is such a large deficit in public awareness generally of the extent of our litter problem it was considered imperative that a wider public awareness campaign be mounted as quickly as possible to give the public a wake-up call about litter. This multi-media campaign is being continued and is designed to bring about change in public attitudes and behaviour towards litter. Funding these measures is being met from my Department's Vote at a cost of some £400,000 this year.
Local authorities cannot provide a litter-free environment on their own. Accordingly, the Action Against Litter initiative seeks to develop the involvement of the private sector and voluntary interests in the fight against litter. Caring for the environment is a shared responsibility. There is a greater acceptance today that business and industry should become involved more creatively in finding solutions to environmental problems, such as solid waste and litter, which are partly of their making.
However, producer responsibility is not just a burden on business and industry. Environmental initiatives such as Action Against Litter give companies the opportunity to prove themselves as good corporate citizens. The emergence of the Irish Business Against Litter movement demonstrates this point. Consumers relate better to companies who demonstrate strong environmental credentials and performance.
The thrust of the Action Against Litter initiative is to change the public mindset in relation to litter. It will be important to know how we are getting on in this task. It is intended, therefore, to establish a system of performance measurement that will monitor the state of cleanliness and assess progress by local authorities in implementing this initiative. My Department is engaged in consultation with an outside body about the development of an external monitoring process, which is intended to be activated next year.
I would now like to comment on some of the main provisions of the Bill. A more detailed commentary will be found in the explanatory memorandum which has been circulated with the Bill. I remind Deputies that the Bill repeals the Litter Act, 1982, but restates and strengthens some of the basic provisions of the earlier legislation.
Section 2 contains standard definitions but goes beyond the 1982 Act in providing a definition of "litter". Section 6 sets out an important requirement on the occupier of property, if it is a public place or visible to any extent from a public place, to keep the property free of litter. In addition, where a property or premises faces a public road and is within the confines of a speed limit area, the occupier will be required to keep free of litter any footpath or pavement between their property and the roadway. This requirement applies to all speed limit areas except where the general 60 miles per hour or the 70 miles per hour motorway speed limit applies. It is designed to cover properties in all built up areas.
The provision is necessary to tackle the problem of litter and to ensure that responsibility is taken by individuals for maintaining a litter free local environment. In section 6 also, in addition to the duties of occupiers, a duty is imposed on the owner of a house that is let in flats or bedsits to ensure that the curtilage of the house is kept free of litter. This provision is included in response to requests from local authorities, particularly Dublin Corporation, which has encountered difficulties with refuse and litter being left to accumulate outside houses let in flats. Section 7 imposes an explicit duty on local authorities to keep public roads free of litter as far as practicable. Roads are an acknowledged respository for litter and it is appropriate to state a clearer obligation on road authorities to maintain good litter management arrangements in this area.
Section 9 contains a new power for local authorities to issue a notice to the occupier of a littered property which is visible from a public place to clean it up and take specified measures to prevent a recurrence. It will be open to a local authority to take action itself and recover the cost involved in the event of an occupier failing to comply with the terms of a notice. I would like to see this provision being actively availed of by local authorities to demonstrate seriousness about tackling heavily littered sites. Sections 10, 11, 12 and 13 all relate to the duty of local authorities to draw up litter management plans for their functional areas. Such plans are essential to guide and support a more systematic approach to litter prevention and control. The adoption of these plans is a reserved function of elected councils but the Bill also requires local authorities to consult local interests on their intended proposals.
Section 15 sets out obligations for the operators of mobile food outlets in relation to litter control in the vicinity of their business. This provision has been suggested by a number of local authorities. It will also be open to local authorities to frame additional requirements for mobile outlets by way of special notice. Section 16 provides local authorities with a new power to take stronger action against the operators of premises whose business activities have a particular tendency to create litter. The types of premises on which additional requirements can be set out are in section 16 (9) and this list may be extended by regulations to include other classes of premises. The need to impose additional requirements on these types of premises is a matter to be judged by individual local authorities having regard to local circumstances. An obligation being imposed on an occupier under this section can extend to an area up to 100 metres from the person's premises.
By agreement with the local authority, an occupier of property may be relieved of the obligation directly to implement litter control measures by making a financial contribution to the local authority. A notice from the local authority imposing additional obligations must first be served in draft form to allow for comments on it. A confirmed notice may be appealed by the person affected to the District Court.
Sections 17 and 18 are designed to create a more structured litter management regime for events which are likely to be attended by large numbers of the public. Litter is inevitably created at well attended events such as major sports events and concerts. The Bill authorises local authorities to serve a notice on the organisers or promoters of major events requiring them to take specified measures to prevent or limit litter creation and to provide for its removal. A notice under section 17 may also require a deposit to be lodged with the local authority as security against the taking of required measures. A local authority may also afford organisers or promoters the option of making a financial contribution to the local authority in lieu of taking direct measures. This contribution must be applied by the local authority to litter prevention or removal at the relevant event. A local authority may also act to remedy any failure by a person to carry out the requirements of a notice and it may recover its costs in doing this.
Section 21 prohibits the placing of advertising material on the windscreens of cars and other vehicles. There is no hesitation in proposing this measure because the placing of advertising leaflets in this manner is well known as a cause of litter. In addition, local authorities will be able to introduce by-laws at their own discretion to prohibit or regulate handing out advertising leaflets in streets. Section 22 is a new provision imposing a duty on the person in charge of a dog to clean up if it fouls in certain public places such as on the street or footpath, on a beach or in a park. Apart from environmental considerations there is a health imperative in relation to this provision because of the danger of children contracting the disease of toxocariasis.
Sections 23 to 28 deal with the important area of enforcement and penalties. The maximum fine for an offence under the Bill is being increased from £800 to £1,500 and there is also a maximum penalty of £100 for each day there is a continued contravention by a convicted person. The on-the-spot penalty remains unchanged at £25, but it may be varied in future by regulations. All the proceeds from fines will now go to local authorities as opposed to the Exchequer which currently benefits from any fines imposed. Local authorities will also be able to ask the courts to award costs against a convicted person in respect of the expenses incurred by local authorities in investigating, detecting and prosecuting offences. I am confident that this change will act as an incentive to local authorities to tackle enforcement more effectively.
Enforcement of the on-the-spot fines against litter offenders has proved to be problematic in the past for local authorities. It is now proposed that in addition to litter wardens, members of the Garda Síochána will be empowered to issue on-the-spot fines. It is not intended that the Garda will take over the role of issuing on-the-spot fines. It is desirable that this remains primarily with local authority litter wardens. However there are circumstances where gardaí on street patrol could very usefully penalise transgressions of our litter laws. The fact that the public know gardaí are empowered to issue on-the-spot fines should act as a further deterrent against littering. It will also now be possible for litter wardens to call on the assistance of the Garda where they believe they might be obstructed in the course of their duties. This, I believe, will strengthen the standing of litter wardens. I am confident that local authorities will become more involved in active enforcement once the new Bill is enacted.
Section 29 of the Bill allows the Minister for the Environment to issue directions and guidelines in relation to the carrying out of the provisions of the Bill. Whenever the Bill is passed it is my intention to issue comprehensive guidelines to local authorities in relation to their duties under the Bill. I look forward to hearing the views of Deputies who will no doubt have valuable perspectives on this matter. I shall be receptive to any practical proposals for strengthening the Bill's provisions. We will look at this in detail on Committee Stage. I commend the Bill to the House.
