It is past time the Garda Síochána and various other State agencies cracked down on the hugely profitable business of illegal dumping. What happens when insufficient attention is devoted to such activity was exposed again in recent days as details of a multi-million euro waste smuggling racket to Northern Ireland broke surface. Such blatant contempt for the law cannot be tolerated.
The Environmental Protection Agency is to ask the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Revenue Commissioners to target those criminals who are making huge amounts of money out of illegal dumping. And a special task force has been established, involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to pursue those waste operators who are engaged in illegal cross-Border smuggling. But much more has to be done to end this lucrative and hugely damaging traffic.
A succession of political failures created the present shambles. Responsibility for waste management was devolved to local authorities more than 10 years ago. And when councillors refused to take the necessary hard decisions, the power was transferred to local authority officials. At the same time, ministerial reluctance to sanction incineration and to provide a legal and financial framework for effective waste management contributed to the problem.
New waste disposal charges and a shortage of landfill capacity caused the situation to spiral out of control. And illegal dumps broke out like a rash across the countryside. Wicklow and other counties on the outskirts of Dublin suffered most. Some local authorities looked the other way.
Last year, under pressure from the European Union, the then minister for the environment, Mr Cullen, allocated €7 million to help local authorities enforce waste disposal laws. And the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) was established. As the risks - and the costs - of disposal increased in the South, a growing cross-Border traffic in both legal and illegal dumping developed. In some instances, paramilitary-style gangs became involved. The profits were enormous.
The new Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, has said the full rigours of the law will be visited upon those engaged in illegal dumping. As a politician from Wicklow, he knows of the damage being caused. There can be no more pussyfooting around. This hugely profitable criminal activity must be treated with the same harshness as drug-smuggling. Prosecutions should be brought in the Circuit Court where jail terms of up to 10 years and fines of €15 million can be imposed.