Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) was set up in 1996 as an alliance of companies that believe litter has a significant impact on our economic well-being. My Department provides grant assistance to IBAL each year but has no formal role in the operation of the IBAL Litter League, which commenced in 2002 and has been developed to mobilise local authorities into action on the subject of litter. The league involves An Taisce regularly monitoring litter levels in towns and cities across Ireland according to international standards. The areas are then ranked in a league table format. My Department has no role in the selection of towns for monitoring by IBAL.