Vol. 513 No. 1
129 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of fines issued during 1999 under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997; the number of prosecutions taken and which were successful; the further action, if any, he will take to address the continuing blight of litter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1595/00]
526 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to deal with the litter problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1327/00]
567 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of litter wardens employed in each of the years from 1997 to 1999; the number of on the spot fines levied in each of these years; the number of prosecutions for littering in these years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1795/00]
569 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has received a report from the national anti-litter forum; if so, the recommendations of the forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1797/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 129, 526, 567 and 569 together.
Under the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, primary responsibility for the development and implementation of responses to litter pollution rests with the individual local authorities.
I am satisfied that local authorities generally are using the extended powers available to them under the 1997 Act to take a more pro-active approach to combating litter. Local authority enforcement figures for the first half of 1999 – the latest national figures available – show that over 8,200 on-the-spot fines issued in this period; 859 prosecutions were taken and there were 354 convictions. These figures represent significant improvement over earlier periods. Detailed statistics on the number of litter wardens employed, prosecutions, convictions, and on-the-spot fines issued and paid are available in the Oireachtas Library.
Despite the improvement in local authority enforcement action, the extent of the national litter pollution problem remains a major concern. I have, therefore, been pursuing a programme of action to support more effective local authority action against litter, including increasing the on-the-spot fine for alleged offences under the 1997 Act from £25 to £50, with effect from 3 January 2000; allocation of £350,000 in grant aid to local authorities to co-fund public anti-litter education and awareness projects. This brings the total grants allocated to local authorities for anti-litter initiatives in the last three years to almost £1 million. A similar grant scheme will operate in 2000; financial support for the An Taisce led project, national spring clean, which aims to raise public awareness and participation in local anti-litter clean-ups and awareness actions to improve the local environment. It includes a central role for local authorities and will be an on-going annual event; development of a national litter pollution monitoring system to monitor and assess local authority litter management and enforcement action and to advise my Department on litter management planning at national level. The system will be implemented over the coming months; establishment of a national anti-litter forum last July to promote greater sectoral involvement, in particular on the part of the business and commercial sectors, in anti-litter initiatives. The forum is reviewing the current actions targeting litter pollution and developing a programme of measures to enhance and extend those responses. It is due to report next month.
I will continue to work actively with local authorities and the various sectors to secure effective implementation of the range of ongoing measures and to develop new anti-litter initiatives.
