20/05/2003

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Gallagher Announces Grants For Public Education And Awareness Initiatives On Litter

Mr. Pat the Cope Gallagher, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government today (20 May) announced the allocation of €615,000 in grants to local authorities for public education and awareness initiatives on litter. The 2003 allocations bring to over €3.5 million the total amount of grants allocated to local authorities for anti-litter awareness initiatives since the introduction of the 1997 Litter Pollution Act.

The grants to county and city councils are intended to cover a broad range of measures to raise public awareness and stimulate anti-litter activity at local level – measures such as local clean-ups, primary/secondary schools competitions, anti-litter videos, posters and other materials, information leaflets, local media campaigns, anti-litter exhibitions, etc. are typical of the projects eligible for grant aid. This year, local authorities can also use their grants to fund anti-litter activity related to the 2003 IBAL National Litter League – an example of one anti-litter initiative supporting local authority efforts in another sphere to strengthen their overall anti-litter performance.

Under devolved arrangements, the local authorities are responsible for selecting suitable projects and deciding on individual grant allocations, subject to specified criteria. The maximum grant allowed for any one project may be up to 70% of the project costs; the balance must be met by local contributions.

In announcing the 2003 grant allocations, the Minister of State stressed the continuing need for greater public awareness to tackle litter. "Littering is an exclusively human activity," the Minister said. "If people behaved more responsibly, there would not be a litter problem." He therefore called on "local authorities and the local communities to take whatever action is necessary to clean up their localities. The grants which I have allocated today will enable local authorities to raise litter awareness and develop community wide strategies, as envisaged in the Government’s Litter Action Plan, to combat litter which involve local people to the greatest possible extent."

A list of the grant allocations to local authorities is attached.