Madam, – Your Editorial on litter and supermarkets (September 1st) was both timely and appropriate.
Another area where breaches of the Litter Acts by commercial businesses is of concern is the erection of temporary advertising signs and banners. This practice has increased dramatically in recent years, although planning regulations and the Litter Acts provide our local authorities with both the authority and the means to penalise those who engage in this practice.
It is not a question of resources, but it seems the political will to tackle this problem is lacking. Even the presence of the Green Party in Government and the fact that the Minister for the Environment is the Green Party’s John Gormley doesn’t seem to have made any difference to politicians’ attitudes to this issue.
Illegal roadside advertising impacts negatively on our environment and on our tourist industry. Other European countries which depend on tourism do not tolerate it. It places companies which respect our litter laws at a competitive disadvantage in respect to those who break these laws and failure to tackle the offenders only encourages others to offend.
As your Editorial stated, even in hard times, there is no reason litter should be tolerated. Nor should we tolerate politicians who fail to ensure our litter laws are enforced. – Yours, etc,