Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
42. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the ways in which his Department supports measures to reduce the amount of litter on rural roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55269/22]
View answerUnder the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, the primary responsibility for management and enforcement responses to litter pollution lies with local authorities. It is a matter for each local authority to determine the most appropriate public awareness, enforcement, and clean-up actions in relation to litter taking account of local circumstances and priorities.
My Department provides support to local authority efforts to tackle litter on several fronts. €750,000 has been provided under the Anti-Litter & Anti-Graffiti Awareness Grant Scheme for 2022. Under this scheme local authorities are responsible for selecting suitable projects and locations for funding and grant allocations.
My Department also oversees the Anti-Dumping Initiative (ADI), introduced in 2017 to encourage a collaborative approach between local authorities, community groups and other State Agencies to tackling the problem of illegal dumping. Funding of over €12m has been provided by my Department under the Initiative, which has supported the delivery of over 1,250 projects nationwide. A further €3 million was allocated in support of this Initiative in 2022.
Funding is also provided annually in support of a number of important anti-litter initiatives such as the National Spring Clean, Picker Pals, the PURE Project and Irish Business against Litter.
The recently enacted Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act also advances several legislative provisions which will further enhance efforts in this area, including providing for the GDPR-compliant use of a range of technologies, such as CCTV for litter enforcement purposes and an increase in the level of the on-the-spot fine for littering.
Details of specific actions undertaken in individual local authority areas should be sought from the relevant local authorities.
