I propose to take Questions Nos. 1735 and 1765 together.
Although in 2016, dog fouling constituted just 1.21 per cent of all litter nationally, it is an issue of personal concern to me given its potential impacts on human health, particularly for children.
It is an offence under section 22 of the Litter Pollution Acts, 1997 to 2009 not to clean up after your dog. I believe that there are sufficient penalties in place, when enforced, to deal with the issue of dog fouling under the Acts, but ultimately it is the responsibility of each individual to ensure that they play their part in preserving the environment for others through the responsible disposal of their litter, including in relation to dog fouling.
Each local authority must determine the most appropriate course of action to tackle litter pollution locally, including the most appropriate public awareness, enforcement and clean-up actions in relation to litter and dog fouling, taking account of its own particular circumstances and priorities. Authorised local authority officers and Gardaí may issue a notice or on-the-spot fine to an individual believed of committing a prescribed offence under the Acts. Under section 159 of the Local Government Act, 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the local authority's functions. It is, therefore, a matter for each individual Chief Executive to assign staff to specific business function areas within their organisation.
Although the dog fouling data sought is not currently collated, data in relation to expenditure by each local authority on street/road cleaning, litter warden services, and litter public awareness initiatives, for the years 2010 to 2016, is available on the Department's website http://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/environment/topics/waste/litter/Pages/Local-Authority-Litter-Fines-and-Expenditure-Statistics.aspx. A breakdown, by local authority, of the total amount collected for litter on-the-spot fines and court fines is also available at this link.
As part of the targeted direct response to deal with litter, my Department operates an Anti-Litter and Anti-Graffiti Awareness Grant Scheme (ALAGS). Under this scheme, local authorities can apply for funding for projects aimed at raising awareness of litter issues, including that of dog fouling. Local authorities are asked to focus their activities under the scheme on young people and in particular on schools and community groups with an emphasis on encouraging long term behavioural change. It is open to local authorities to utilise some of this funding to improve the situation specifically in relation to dog fouling.
Compared to 2016, I have increased funding for the ALAGS scheme in 2017 by 28% and allocated a total of €884,000 to local authorities this year. My Department recently issued a circular on the scheme and I have specifically requested local authorities to consider anti-dog fouling schemes in the awarding of grants.
