COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 14, 2011

MOTION NO. 6

MOTION: Councillor B. Lawlor

That this Council agrees to introduce a Freefone 1800 Litter Line Number to facilitate the public in contacting the Council to report illegal dumping. This new initiative is in response to the growing environmental issues, including increased dumping and fly-tipping, and will encourage and facilitate more residents to support this Councils efforts to resolve this menace, including providing additional support to the work of our litter wardens throughout South Dublin. Further the public launching of this project will give new hope to the residents of this county for a cleaner environment to the future.

REPORT:

The EPA currently operates a nationwide illegal dumping hotline.  The “Dump the Dumpers” service is designed to encourage reporting of illegal dumping of waste or of abandoned illegal dumps via a 24 hour call save telephone number - 1850 365 121.  This information is followed up and checked by the enforcement authorities - local authorities, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement and the Gardaí - through the Environmental Enforcement Network.  The “Dump the Dumpers” phone line is staffed on a 24-hour basis so callers get to speak to a trained operator who elicits all necessary details to enable the matter to be investigated. While information can be provided anonymously, callers are encouraged to leave contact details so that clarification can be sought if necessary and so that feedback can be provided to the caller if requested.  Serious incidents of illegal dumping are reported immediately to the Gardaí and the relevant local authority so that activities can be investigated as appropriate. 

All other reports of litter offences should be made through the Council's existing customer contact systems, whether through the web, e-mail, SMS, phone, by post or in person.   This system enables tracking of all issues and ensures that matters are followed up and resolved.  This is the most effective means of managing issues in the County.  In addition to calls that to the EPA, the Environmental Services Department dealt with over 3,600 queries relating to litter and dumping in 2010 through the Customer Contact System.  Therefore, it is not proposed to introduce a hotline because, as the above figures show, the current system has proved very effective in enabling reporting of litter issues.