Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 April 2016
474. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the situation in relation to Galway County Council and the number of fines issued by it for illegal dumping, in particular for the period 2014 to 2015 when 746 fines were imposed but only approximately 38% of this number of fines were actually paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7665/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnforcement action against illegal waste activity, including littering offences, is a matter for the local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, and my Department does not compile statistics in relation to fines imposed. Such statistics are publicly accessible through the Local Government Management Agency’s series of annual reports on Service Indicators in Local Authorities, available from the publications section of the LGMA’s website: www.lgma.ie.
My Department provides the legislative framework under which both local authority and EPA enforcement action is initiated and also continues to provide significant financial support to a network of local authority waste enforcement officers, as well as to the Office of Environmental Enforcement.
In October 2015, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council and Leitrim and Donegal County Councils (in a combined bid) were announced as the new Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs). The WERLAs are tasked with driving further performance improvements by individual local authorities in carrying out their waste enforcement functions and with ensuring consistency between local authorities. Their work is overseen by a National Steering Committee that involves other regulatory bodies with a link to waste crime, including the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and An Garda Síochána. The national waste enforcement priorities for 2016 were set by the Steering Committee and include illegal dumping. These priorities will be the focus of the WERLAs’ first full year in operation.
