COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF JOINT POLICING COMMITTEE

Friday, September 12, 2008

QUESTION NO 1.

QUESTION: Councillor T. Ridge

That this Council in conjunction with the Gardai endeavour to stop the collecting of wood and all sorts of junk before Halloween in an effort to defray t he outrageous cost of cleaning up [100,000] last year and the dreadful burning of this Councils green spaces.

REPLY:

The Parks Department with the assistance of staff from the Cleansing Unit will be removing any bonfire material from open spaces in the weeks before Halloween as they do each year. Last year the Council dealt with 583 bonfires. This was down from 612 in 2006. In addition to the costs incurred by the Council there are also costs associated with the Gardai and emergency services.  Bonfires also contribute to atmospheric pollution and damage to the open spaces. Therefore, the aim of the Council is to discourage the number of bonfires in the County.

The Environmental Services Department target certain bonfire prone areas of the County with junk collections in the weeks prior to Halloween in an effort to ensure that people do not leave out material for the collection that is then used in a bonfire. The Litter Wardens are also involved, targeting commercial premises who supply waste material for bonfires (tyres, pallets etc).

In recent years the Council has organised official County Council bonfires which have also been of assistance and proved to be very well received in the locations (West Tallaght and North Clondalkin) where they have been held. These events have focused community efforts on reducing the number of bonfires on an open space in favour of one larger bonfire that would be supervised and managed to ensure that unsuitable material is excluded and that health and safety measures are in place to ensure public safety.