To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been prosecuted for the illegal (a) transport, (b) deposit and (c) storage of waste in each of the last three years; and what total amount was paid in fines in each year. (83965)

Prosecutions for illegal waste offences are taken under the Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997.

It is not possible to provide a breakdown in the format you have requested. Prosecutions for unregistered waste transport are associated with the more serious offences of illegal storage and deposit of waste, for which several offences may apply in each case.

The following overall successful prosecutions for waste offences have been taken by EHS:

2004: 24 prosecutions, generating total fines of £18,800;

2005: 58 cases, generating total fines of £104,050; and

2006 (to end June): 47 cases, generating total fines of £85,050 and a prison sentence of nine months—the first sentence handed down by the courts in Northern Ireland for waste offences.