Funding is being made available for the use of drones to tackle illegal dumping.
The Environment Minister says €3 million will go towards the Anti-Dumping Initiative – 50% more than last year.
It’ll fund special collections for items like mattresses as well as an increased emphasis on targeting blackspots.
Richard Bruton says the money will improve the chances of catching offenders.
However local Green Party councillor, Malcolm Noonan, says while the move’s welcome, it’s not enough:
“Definitely it’s a welcome first step. €3 million won’t go nearly far enough though, to try and deal with the scale of the problem we’re facing, particularly in rural Ireland.
“We would say to the Minister that, yes, this is a good start, but there’s a huge resource issue in local authorities when it comes to trying to deal with illegal dumping on our roadside verges, in our woodlands and in rural lanes right around the country.
“I think that he needs to ramp up that funding significantly… and increase the staffing levels for each local authority.”
