Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten confirmed this week that he has recently received a proposal from the Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments (PURE) initiative which was established in 2006 to combat illegal dumping and fly-tipping in the Wicklow-Dublin mountains.

He said the proposal “outlines the outcomes of the project to date and requests a multi-annual extension of funding”. To date, the Department of the Environment has provided €1.14m in funding to PURE and its successes have been evaluated every three years.

In a parliamentary questions, Wicklow TD Pat Casey asked if there was potential for the project to be rolled out nationwide.

“The PURE project addresses a specific localised issue whereby an area of outstanding natural beauty adjoins the largest population conurbation in Ireland, thus leading to high levels of illegal dumping,” Naughten replied. “These circumstances are not generally replicated in other localities in Ireland.”

Naughten said he will make a decision on the PURE proposal “shortly”. Its current funding period ends this year.

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Naughten non-committal on national rollout of plan to combat illegal dumping

The Wicklow PURE initiative is seeking an extension of funding, which prompted the question whether Minister for Environment Denis Naughten should roll out the programme nationally.