Galway East TD and Minister for Rural Affairs has hit out at illegal dumping following a sharp increase in the activity as a result of COVID-19.
Minister Canney’s department, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, has ringfenced €1 million from the Anti-Dumping Initiative to combat the upsurge during the crisis.
Minister Canney said: “Illegal dumping is a health and environmental hazard. It is disappointing that a minority of people have seen the reduction of traffic on our roads as an opportunity to carry out this anti-social behaviour.
“We are now giving local authorities advanced funding to clamp down on the illegal dumpers. This will include supporting the installation of monitoring and surveillance equipment.”
Since the introduction of the Anti-Dumping Initiative in 2017, funding of €6.3 million has been provided, which has supported more than 700 projects across all 31 local authorities and removed 10,000 tonnes of illegally-dumped waste.
This is in addition to the €7.4m annual enforcement grant, which supports the recruitment and retention of 150 local authority waste enforcement personnel across the country.

For more information, contact Minister Canney on 086-2513639
April 22 2020