Litter Pollution Act 1997
Interpretation.
2. — (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—
F1["Act of 2022" means the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022;
"approval", in relation to a proposal under section 23A, means an approval given under section 23A(5) or renewed under section 23A(11) in respect of the CCTV scheme which is the subject of the proposal;
"approved CCTV scheme" means a CCTV scheme which is the subject of a proposal in respect of which an approval is in being;
"authorised person" means a person who is appointed in writing by a local authority to be an authorised person for the purposes of this Act or any provisions thereof as the local authority determines;
"automatic number plate recognition device" means a device which engages an automated method of recognising vehicle registration plates from a camera image;
"biometric data" has the meaning given to it by section 69(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018;
"CCTV scheme" has the meaning given to it by section 23A(1);
"closed circuit television" or "CCTV" means a system of recording devices the signals of which are not made publicly available but are monitored, or are capable of being monitored, by a local authority;
"code of practice" means a code of practice approved by the Minister in accordance with section 23B and includes part of a code of practice;
"facial recognition device" means a device or system of devices which, through automated use of biometric data, matches or categorises facial images captured by the device;]
“ deposit ”, in relation to a substance or object that can constitute litter in respect of any place, means to throw, drop, dump, abandon or discard the substance or object, as the case may be, or allow it to escape or be released in or into the place;
“ footway ” has the meaning assigned by the Roads Act, 1993;
“ functions ” includes powers and duties and a reference to the performance of a function includes, with respect to powers and duties, a reference to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;
“ hire-drive agreement ”, in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, means an agreement under which the vehicle is hired from its registered owner, other than—
(a) a hire-purchase agreement,
(b) an agreement merely for the carriage of persons or goods,
(c) an agreement under which the registered owner of the vehicle drives, or provides a driver for, the vehicle;
“ land ” includes any structure and any land covered by water;
“ litter ” means a substance or object, whether or not intended as waste (other than waste within the meaning of the Waste Management Act, 1996, which is properly consigned for disposal) that, when deposited in a place other than a litter receptacle or other place lawfully designated for the deposit, is or is likely to become unsightly, deleterious, nauseous or unsanitary, whether by itself or with any other such substance or object, and regardless of its size or volume or the extent of the deposit;
“ litter receptacle ” means a receptacle designated or otherwise apparently intended to be used for the deposit of litter;
“ litter warden ” means a person authorised by a local authority to perform, on behalf of the local authority, the functions of the local authority and of a litter warden under this Act;
“ local authority ” means, in the case of—
(a) a county, other than any borough or urban district therein, the council of the county,
(b) a county or other borough, the corporation of the county or other borough, and
(c) an urban district, the council of the urban district,
and a reference to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed accordingly;
“ mechanically propelled vehicle ” has the meaning assigned by the Road Traffic Act, 1961;
“ the Minister ” means the Minister for the Environment;
“ occupier ”, in relation to any place or thing, means the person occupying, whether legally or otherwise, the place or thing and includes any other person having, for the time being, control of the place or thing;
F1["operation", in relation to closed circuit television, includes the maintenance and monitoring of closed circuit television;]
“ prescribed ” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;
“ public place ” means any place to which the public has access whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;
“ public road ” has the meaning assigned by the Roads Act, 1993;
F1["recording device" means a device that is capable of recording or processing, or both, visual images or audio, or both, on any medium, from which a visual image or moving visual images may be produced and includes any accompanying document, and, where only visual images or moving visual images are concerned, includes any sound accompanying those images but does not include automatic number plate recognition devices or facial recognition devices;]
“ registered owner ”, in respect of a vehicle, has the meaning assigned by the Road Traffic Act, 1961;
“ roadway ” has the meaning assigned by the Roads Act, 1993.
(2) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears, a reference to—
(a) a section or Part is a reference to a section or Part of this Act,
(b) a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, and
(c) an enactment includes a reference to that enactment as amended.
Annotations
Amendments:
F1
Inserted (1.07.2023) by Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (26/2023), s. 31, S.I. No. 344 of 2023.
Modifications (not altering text):
C2
Functions transferred and references construed (22.07.2016) by Climate Action and Environment (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2016 (S.I. No. 393 of 2016), arts. 2, 3 and sch. 1, subject to transitional provisions in arts. 4-8.
2. (1) The administration and business in connection with the performance of any functions transferred by this Order are transferred to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
(2) References to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government contained in any Act or any instrument made under an Act and relating to the administration and business transferred by paragraph (1) shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
3. (1) The functions conferred on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government by or under any of the provisions of—
(a) the enactments specified in Schedule 1, and
(b) the statutory instruments specified in Schedule 2,
are transferred to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
(2) References to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government contained in any Act or instrument made under an Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Order shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
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Schedule 1
Article 3(1)(a)
Enactments, functions by or under which are transferred from the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
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Litter Pollution Act 1997 (No. 12 of 1997)
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Editorial Notes:
E1
Previous affecting provision: functions transferred and references construed (10.06.2003) by Environment and Local Government (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2003 (S.I. No. 233 of 2003), arts. 2-4; superseded as per C-note above.
E2
Previous affecting provision: functions transferred and references construed (22.07.1997) by Environment (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997 (S.I. No. 322 of 1997), arts. 2-4; superseded as per E-note above.