Thomas Gould
Question:145. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment whether he will consider initiating a dumping taskforce in Cork. [26990/26]
View answerThursday, 16 April 2026
Questions (145)
Written answers
Under the Waste Management Act, the primary responsibility for management and enforcement responses to illegal dumping lies with the local authorities. It is a matter for each local authority to determine the most appropriate awareness, enforcement and clean-up actions in relation to illegal dumping taking account of local circumstances. In that context it would be a matter for Cork City and County Councils to determine whether to establish a taskforce to deal with illegal dumping issues in the Cork region.
The Department provides significant support to the local authority sector in their efforts to tackle illegal dumping. Over €23m has been provided to the sector under the Anti-Dumping Initiative (ADI) since it was first introduced in 2017 in order to encourage a collaborative approach between local authorities, community groups and other State Agencies to tackling the problem. Some €2.89m was provided in support of the ADI in 2025, while allocations for 2026 will be finalised shortly.
Full details of the amounts provided to individual local authorities by the Department under the ADI for each of the years 2017 - 2025, including details of the specific projects carried out by Cork City and County Councils over that period are available on the gov.ie website at the following link - https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/publications/anti-dumping-initiative/
The Department also continues to invest heavily in the local authority waste enforcement network, through the Waste Enforcement Measures Grant Scheme, with the intention of maintaining a visible presence of waste enforcement personnel on the ground across the State. €7.53m was provided to local authorities under the scheme in 2025, including €275,000 to Cork City Council and €460,023 to Cork County Council, while a further €7.7m has been allocated for 2026.