April 26, 2016
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of charging points for electric motor vehicles in place in each county; the total cost per county of installing these facilities to date; and if he will provide a breakdown of the level of usage they generated in each county in 2015.

REPLY from Minister Alex White

The ESB, through its ecars programme, is continuing to roll out both publicly accessible charging infrastructure and domestic charge points. I am advised that 910 public charge-points have now been installed nationally. These include 78 DC fast chargers, most of which have been installed on major roads.

The location of these charge-points is available on the ESB’s website at https://www.esb.ie/our-businesses/ecars/charge-point-map. In addition, to the end of March 2016, ESB ecars had installed 1096 domestic chargers and 542 chargers on commercial premises.

The installation cost for these charge-points is an operational matter for the ESB. My Department does not hold information on the level of usage of these charge-points.

April 26, 2016
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the findings of any comparative analysis carried out by his Department, into the levels of fly-tipping and illegal dumping, reported by local authorities since the start of the economic downturn in 2008.
 
REPLY from Minister Alan Kelly

Enforcement action against illegal waste activity is a matter for the local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Enforcement. My Department provides the legislative framework under which both local authority and EPA enforcement action is initiated and also continues to provide significant financial support to a network of local authority waste enforcement officers, as well as to the Office of Environmental Enforcement.  
  
I would draw the Deputy’s attention to a range of reports and data on waste enforcement that is publicly accessible.  For example, the Local Government Management Agency’s (LGMA) series of annual reports on Service Indicators in Local Authorities, provide data on a range of services including environmental complaints and enforcement and is available from the publications section of the LGMA’s website: www.lgma.ie 

For an overview of the national picture, the publications and downloads section of the EPA‘s website (www.epa.ie) contains the latest data in the form of Waste Factsheets and the National Waste Reports.

In particular, the EPA published a report in 2014, entitled Focus on Environmental Enforcement in Ireland 2009 – 2012, which sets out the details of Ireland’s enforcement of environmental law, in the period 2009 to 2012, by local authorities and the EPA, and the role of the enforcement Network for Ireland’s Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (NIECE) in improving the effectiveness of enforcing environmental law.

The report noted that almost 15,000 local authority inspections relating to waste facility permitted sites, waste collection permits, and vehicle checkpoints were completed by local authorities between 2009 and 2012. Excluding litter inspections, local authorities conducted in total over 105,000 waste inspections between 2009 and 2012.

April 26, 2016
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will publish any recent research that national tourism authorities have conducted into overseas visitors’ attitudes to the levels of littering here; and his views on the extent of the problem.

REPLY from Minister Paschal Donohoe

Research on visitor attitudes and in particular the attitudes on litter is carried out by the National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland, as part of their Visitor Attitudes Survey.

The findings of their most recent Visitor Attitudes Survey for 2015 can be accessed at ​http://www.failteireland.ie/Research-Insights/Visitor-Feedback-(1).aspx.
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The survey confirms that our scenery and unspoilt environment are significant factors in considering Ireland as a holiday destination. Furthermore, the survey shows that 83% were satisfied that Ireland is "litter free / pollution free".

April 20, 2016

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána stationed in Co. Waterford; the number who retired in each of the past five years; their rank on leaving the force; and the number of officers of each rank of Garda, Detective Garda, Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Inspector and Superintendent currently deployed in the Waterford division compared to five years ago.

REPLY (Minister Frances Fitzgerald)
As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and Districts and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the number of members stationed in the Waterford Garda Division on the 29 February 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available was 280.  This compares with 302 on the 28 February 2011.  The table below sets out the breakdown by rank.  The information supplied by the Garda Commissioner does not distinguish between Sergeant and Detective Sergeant.
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With regard to the number of members and their ranks who have retired from this Division, the information is not at hand in the Department and I have asked the Commissioner to supply this information which will be forwarded to the Deputy on receipt.

April 14, 2016
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide a breakdown of the increase in overseas visitor numbers to those counties covered by the Wild Atlantic Way Initiative since it started; and of the increase in overseas visitor numbers to those counties covered by the Ireland’s Ancient East Initiative since it commenced.

REPLY (Minister Paschal Donohoe)
Figures published by the CSO show that overseas visits to Ireland have risen for each of the past five years. In fact, 2015 broke all previous records with a total number of overseas visits of 8,643,100 which represented an increase of 13.7% on the 2014 total. 

Although the CSO does not compile any visitor numbers on a county by county basis, I understand Fáilte Ireland does generate some estimates and this information is available in the research section of the Fáilte Ireland website www.failteireland.ie.

​In relation to the estimated number of visitors to the counties covered by the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East, I have asked Fáilte Ireland to provide the Deputy with whatever relevant information they may have. (see below).