Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline the steps he will take to ensure effective regulation and enforcement is in place to tackle the environmental and financial impact of waste crime.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: My department delivers effective regulation and enforcement through a structured, multi-agency approach, led by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
The NIEA regulates waste through a robust framework that includes issuing authorisations, conducting inspections and audits, maintaining public registers, and providing regulatory guidance. Enforcement actions are taken to deter non-compliance and uphold environmental standards.
The Environmental Crime Unit (ECU) of NIEA continues to investigate and prosecute the most serious and persistent waste criminality in Northern Ireland.
The ECU focuses its resources on those cases which present the most significant risk to the environment and public health and utilises powers contained within the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 to pursue prosecutions. Such prosecutions are often coupled with confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, aimed at depriving those convicted of the proceeds generated from their crimes whilst asserting the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’.
NIEA continues to adopt a multi-agency approach through operational cooperation with other government agencies. By working together with partner agencies, the NIEA takes a comprehensive approach in tackling illegal waste criminality through effective inter-agency collaboration.
ENDS
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