COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 09, 2019

QUESTION NO.10

QUESTION: Councillor Yvonne Collins

To ask the Chief Executive for a report on abandoned cars by area

REPLY:

Vehicles that are abandoned (which display identification marks) are managed by the Council's Litter Warden Service under Section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996 as amended, which provides inter alia for the following:

1) Investigation of vehicle reported

2) Ownership checks & enquires

3) Communications with the owners (where known)

4) Taking ownership and removal of abandoned vehicles.

It can take up to 8 weeks to complete the above procedure depending on its complexity and level of co-operation from other relevant bodies. 

In the case of burnt out vehicles, contact is made with An Garda Síochána to establish if the vehicles are "of interest" or require a Garda investigation. Generally, burnt out cars on public grounds causing risk to public safety are removed as soon as possible.

It should be noted that some complaints of "abandoned" cars are solely traffic related which are matters for the Gardai. Similarly, other reports relate to nuisance issues are not in fact abandoned, such as:

The Litter Warden Service is not aligned to electoral areas, so it is not possible to provide a figure for the number of burnt out/abandoned cars on electrical area basis.  

The table below outlines the number of vehicles reported/and outcomes of how abandoned/burnt out vehicles have been dealt with for the period January - July 2019

January - July 2019  Abandoned Vehicles Burnt out Vehicles 
Total Reported  436  73
Outcome    
Removed by SDCC Contractor  21  54
Removed by owner/unknown  215*  19
Parking issues  66  
Car in use/Not Abandoned  78  
Garda Matter  9  
Open cases  47  

*It is possible that some burnt out or abandoned cars were removed by An Garda Síochaná.