The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the first operation across the State against illegal waste operators with a series of roadblocks and inspections.
Gardaí and waste-enforcement staff from local authorities mounted the roadblocks and were backed up by inspectors from the EPA's Office for Environmental Enforcement (OEE) who visited licensed facilities.
The crackdown, which concentrated on the Cork region, was planned during a two-day meeting of waste-enforcement staff last month. Operators suspected of illegal activity were targeted in particular, including those suspected of shipping waste illegally to Northern Ireland.
EPA staff were also liaising with their counterparts in the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland, which is leading the investigation into illegal waste activity there.
Mr Dara Lynott, the director of the OEE, said it was the first of a number of co-ordinated actions targeting illegal activity. "This concerted approach to waste-enforcement sends out a clear signal that the EPA and local authorities alike will not tolerate illegal waste activity," he said.
"The Office of Environmental Enforcement's priority is to tackle unauthorised waste-activity in Ireland and to stem the illegal flow of waste into Northern Ireland. Today's activities are part of a series of concerted actions aimed at identifying unauthorised movement of waste."
The crackdown comes on foot of the establishment of a cross-Border task force to target illegal movements of waste from the Republic into Northern Ireland
This multi-million euro racket is believed to be the principal illegal waste activity in Ireland.
A small number of operators from Northern Ireland is believed to be behind the movement of the waste, taking large lorry-loads of waste from permitted waste collectors in the Republic.