Vol. 509 No. 2
120 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the Clean Up Australia campaign which takes place on 1 March every year and which has been an enormous success; his views on whether a similar campaign should be initiated here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20161/99]
I have no information on the effectiveness of the clean-up Australia campaign.
As the Deputy will be aware, my Department is co-funding the An Taisce led national spring clean initiative which ran nationwide during April 1999. National spring clean aims at raising public awareness and participation in litter clean-up and anti-litter awareness actions at local level to improve the local environment. It will be a continuing annual event, with local authorities having a key role in assisting and co-ordinating local actions.
During April 1999, over 1,700 groups and organisations representing over 150,000 people nationwide took action under national spring clean to clean up their localities and heighten awareness of the litter problem. This was a major success for an initiative in only its first year of operation and I hope that it will continue to be widely supported in future years.
