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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 09, 2019

QUESTION NO.18

QUESTION: Councillor Teresa Costello

To ask the Chief Executive how many people have been prosecuted for illegal dumping in the county year to date.

REPLY:

All incidents of illegal dumping reported or detected in any area are investigated by the Council's Litter Warden Service and all dumped material is searched for evidence. Where evidence is found, the appropriate enforcement action is taken under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended. Increasingly, it is found that no personal information relating to polluters is contained within the dumped material, with personal information having been removed or shredded. 279 Litter Fines have been issued up to the end of July.

To date in 2019 14 cases have been heard in Court; 12 of which were successful. Currently, there are an additional 36 cases listed for hearing.

As part of the Council's commitment to deliver on the objectives of the Corporate Plan and Litter Management Plan, there has been an increased targeted focus on known litter generator areas. Similarly, there has been a raised visibility of our Warden Service through branded vehicles, and a number of structured routes have been identified for continuous patrol, as well as ad hoc patrols and investigations as required.

As always, the Council is grateful for assistance and support from local residents or others in their investigations of such incidents as they arise. In the absence of substantive evidence / witness statements and the presence of such witnesses in court it is not possible for us to bring successful prosecutions.