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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 10, 2017

QUESTION NO.14

QUESTION: Councillor R. McMahon

To ask the Manager in the year 2016, how many litter fines were issued, how many of these were paid and if there has been any successful prosectutions for litter offences in the county.

REPLY:

Total number of litter fines issued in 2016 - 434

Total number of fines paid in 2016 - 180

In cases where payment as demanded in the notice has not been made within the period specified, legal proceedings are initiated against that person. However, it is not always possible to progress the matter to a court hearing for various reasons but primarily due to:

a) fines sent by registered post being returned as undelivered

b) evidence deemed to be not sufficiently robust to support prosecution

The Court has a number of options at its discretion, including conviction with fine, conviction without fine or dismissal. The collection of fines applied by the Court is a matter for the Courts Service.

Notwithstanding the above, there were a total of 26 successful prosecutions in 2016.

It should also be noted that the above figures do not reflect the level of surveillance and enforcement activity undertaken during the year, with over 3,000 reports of littering / illegal dumping being investigated for evidence.