Dog owners who sneak out at night to allow their pets foul the greens of housing estates were sharply criticised in the Dáil yesterday as a call was made for the Government to do more to deal with the problem.

Independent TD Finian McGrath said the problem of dog litter “is under the radar” compared to the attention given to water and household charges. The Dublin North Central deputy said he had seen three types of dog owners, “responsible ones, the irresponsible ones and the ones who pretend to be responsible.

“The responsible owners picked up the litter, the irresponsible owners do not care . . . and the ones who pretend to be responsible . . . let their dogs out at night, when everybody is gone to bed, to run around the green and destroy the greens in housing estates.”

Mr McGrath said parents with young children were afraid to let their children out to play on the greens and he called on Minister for Environment Phil Hogan to "do something about it".

But Mr Hogan said a “substantial amount of money” was given each year to local authorities, who had primary responsibility for dealing with the problem, including the provision of dog waste bags.

Funding was available for projects including “pooper scooper” materials and for public awareness campaigns to educate people about the dangers associated with dog fouling.

Mr McGrath said “there are probably very well behaved dogs in Kilkenny” and some of them might be “very posh dogs” but it was a major health and environmental issue.