Fianna Fail is calling for proper resources to be allocated to help alleviate illegal dumping throughout Ireland.

The party made the call after the Government introduced an initiative aimed at tackling illegal dumping.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan Niamh Smyth said the situation has been exacerbated by a drastic reduction in litter warden staff levels across Cavan and Monaghan.

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She said: "Cavan has lost four part-time litter wardens, while Monaghan has seen an even more dramatic cut – down from two full time litter wardens and eight part time wardens to just one litter warden. Unless the Government is prepared to invest resources into seriously addressing this issue, it will continue to spread. The enforcement of the current litter laws also needs to be more robust. Many people are evading fines and these are not acting as a deterrent to people to stop dumping.

"A strategy to deal with illegal dumping has been a long time coming, and while I'm pleased that the Minister is finally moving on it, he must ensure that the sufficient resources are allocated to deal with the problem effectively. It's action, not platitudes that we need."

(CD/MH)