COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 09, 2011

QUESTION NO. 18

QUESTION: Councillor E. Tuffy

To ask the Manager if he will present an updated report on work done by the Council to remove graffiti in the last year and if he will advise if there has been a reduction in the number of incidents of graffiti?

REPLY:

 The Council currently provides a wide ranging response to graffiti in the County.

Information about graffiti prevention and awareness forms part of the Council's Environmental Awareness role with both community groups and schools and, as part of the Litter Management Plan 2008-2011, ongoing campaigns highlight the role everyone plays in keeping the county clean including an anti-graffiti message.  The Environmental Awareness team have also distributed Anti-Graffiti grants throughout the County.

In addition, the Council’s Graffiti programme incorporates the existing resources provided by the Council's Graffiti Removal Crew and Litter Wardens, together with a partnership initiative with the Probation Services in dealing with reported graffiti to provide a prompt response to removing graffiti where required.  

These various aspects provide a broad approach to tackling graffiti but it should be noted that the eradication of this problem will require the long-term application of these and similar projects to ultimately create a cultural change.

When a report of graffiti is received, the local Litter Warden will inspect the location and determine whether the graffiti is on public or private property.  Where graffiti is on private property, it is the responsibility of the owner/occupier to remove it and the Litter Warden may assist by providing advice/materials.   If graffiti is on public property, its treatment is dependant on the surface it is on.  The Graffiti Removal Crew apply paint or cement to walls in public areas to remove graffiti while the Probation Services teams are provided with graffiti removal chemicals supplied by the Council and they apply the chemicals and then wash down surfaces to remove the graffiti if possible.  In addition, where practical crews will remove graffiti from known graffiti blackspots if they are working nearby.  The Council's Graffiti Removal Crew currently comprises 1 supervisor and three staff and this is supplemented by the arrangement with the Probation Services whereby they provide an additional crew comprising one supervisor and up to 5 men on two days per week.

In addition to staff costs, approximately €30,000 was spent in the last twelve months (April 2010 to March 2011) on materials, equipment and vehicle costs for the graffiti programme 

 These figures do not include materials supplied by local Litter Wardens to residents for graffiti removal.

Some 165 graffiti removals have been carried out by the Crew and Probation Services during the period April 2010 to March 2011 with 251 removals carried out in the twelve months preceding that period.  The Council's Customer Contact System recorded 186 graffiti related queries being received during the period April 2010 to March 2011 compared to 232 in the previous twelve months.