Fines for the illegal dumping of waste on the Irish border should reflect the cost of clean-up, a SDLP Assemblyman has said.

The party's environment spokesperson John Dallat said fines should also exceed legal disposal costs if they are to act as a deterrent.

Speaking after a meeting of the Assembly environment committee, Mr Dallat said: "The NI Environmental Agency reckons that a quarter of a million tonnes of waste from the south have been illegally dumped across the north.

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"Clean-up of the first two sites with 14,000 tonnes will cost about £250 a tonne, although the Dublin authorities will pay 80% of that," he said.

"However, in one recent prosecution the illegal dumper was fined just £500 plus £16 in costs for dumping 150 tonnes."

Mr Dallat estimated that amounted to about £3.50 a tonne.

"Tiphead costs for proper disposal in the south run as high as €250 a tonne, so with paltry fines we are actively encouraging illegal dumping," he said.

The environment committee will now write to Environment Minister Edwin Poots to seek information on the average fine per tonne of illegal waste.

"If it is to be an effective deterrent it must of course be higher than the cost of proper disposal in a landfill site north or south," Mr Dallat said.

He added: "It must also be based on the 'polluter pays' principle so that the cost of clean-up does not fall on taxpayers here."

(PR/KMcA)