Illegal dumpers will no longer avoid €500,000 maximum fines
Junior Environment Minister Batt O’Keeffe confirmed yesterday he is to set up an advisory group comprising judges, civil servants, and the gardaí who will draw up a league table of fines up to €500,000 that can be imposed on illegal waste traffickers. The fine will be in direct proportion to the amount of waste illegally dumped.
“A significant crime group are transporting illegal waste out of the country and they need to be tackled with the full rigours of the law,” said Mr O’Keeffe.
There are 140 illegal dump sites in the North which contain waste from the Republic, Justice Minister Michael McDowell has confirmed. However, court fines to date have done little to deter such activity for the 100 illegal dumpers who have come before the district courts in recent years, with the average minimum fine being around €1,000.
The most recent example of this was an illegal dumper who caused almost €500,000 damage in the North Cork village of Rockchapel and was fined €1,000 in the district court. “The local authority ended up footing the bill for this enormous clean-up and now the Government is determined to tackle illegal dumpers by ensuring they get a maximum fine when it is merited,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
The minister plans to tackle the illegal dumping problem by setting up an advisory group based on a European model, which will ensure tougher penalties are imposed.
“I want to stress that this is by no means an attempt to interfere with the independence of the judiciary, but other European countries have found that when judges, the gardaí and officials came together to tackle this problem it leads to a major reduction in illegal dumping,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
It is also hoped that some judges will opt to specialise in environmental law and that this will lead to more cases being heard in the higher courts where fines of up to €15 million can be imposed as well as jail terms of up to 15 years.
