People are dumping with “total impunity” in Ireland at the moment – with litter wardens often afraid to confront them, a leading environmental charity has warned.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne said illegal dumping remains a major scourge in Ireland – and expressed hope that new regulations allowing local authorities to use CCTV and drones to tackle it will be published in the New Year.

Also on the show, VOICE (Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment) spokesman Colin O'Byrne said the changes should help in the fight against dumping.

“I think a lot of people are operating with total impunity at the moment, knowing that really there's very little - unless they're caught in the act - that's going to stop them,” he said.

“I would agree with the Senator’s comments about it being a scourge and it is effectively two fingers to the State because they just feel that they can dump wherever they want, however they want and good luck to the consequences – they're away scot-free.

“So, anything that can really help try and put a stop to it, we would welcome.”

'Disheartening'

Mr O’Byrne said it is “really disheartening” for volunteers, individuals or communities who put so much effort into keeping their towns tidy to “come across just these horrible scenes and rubbish everywhere”.

He said litter wardens are often afraid to confront those involved in illegal dumping.

“They know where the dumping goes on, they have a fair idea who is doing it, but I mean, there's elements of fear,” he said.

“I mean, these are criminals, oftentimes, doing this, committing criminal acts and they don't really feel that they have the power or the necessary backup to go and affect some kind of intervention without, you know, inviting harm to themselves.”

A worker checks the mountains of plastic bottles compressed into blocks at the Panda Recycling plant in Dublin, 30-04-2018. Image: RollingNews

The VOICE Ireland spokesman said we have to do more to encourage companies to reduce the amount of packaging they are producing in the first place – warning that Ireland is dealing with 20% more packaging now than it was five years ago.

He said the charity believes the upcoming deposit-return scheme is an “excellent addition” to Ireland’s recycling system – noting that research shows it is the only effective way to get us close to our target of recycling 90% of plastic bottles by the end of the decade.

Sentencing

Asked if it is time to bring in stricter sentences for dumping, he said: “If you want serious legislative teeth, then you have to back it up in that sense, regarding fines, repeat offenders and sentencing”.

“This is a crime against people, against the countryside, against nature and it should be taken very, very seriously,” he said.

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