21st October 2004

PRESS RELEASE

Green Party says EPA requires more Government Support over Illegal Waste

 The Green Party has called on the Government to give more help to the EPA in its efforts to weed out illegal dumping. The call comes as the EPA publishes the first report from its Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE). The Reports states that 2000 inspections have taken place leading to 21 convictions.

The Green Party’s Environment Spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD stated: “Illegal Waste is still a significant problem in Ireland. We do not believe that illegal dumping has stopped as a result of the EPA’s activities. There must be greater support from the Government for the activities of the new Office of Environmental Enforcement. Estimates suggest up to one third of the illegal waste in Northern Ireland is being illegally trafficked from the South.

“Last month the European Commission’s Advocate General Leendert Geelhoed stated: “the problems of illegal, i.e. unlicensed, waste operations were not confined to certain localities but that these were widespread in Irish territory…. Such a situation can only be resolved by a change of policy at the level of central government.”

We are calling on the Irish Government to address what Mr. Geelhoed described as the  'persistent, widespread and serious' problem of the illegal disposal of waste in Ireland. He said there was “an administrative problem of a more general character.”

“The total fines levied on those prosecuted for illegal dumping in the 21 cases was less than €100,000. This is an inadequate response to the scale of the problem. The fines should reflect the profits made from illegal dumping. There also needs to be more emphasis on cleaning up the illegal sites.

ENDS