COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, December 09, 2019
QUESTION NO. 22
QUESTION: Councillor Mary Seery-Kearney
To ask the Chief Executive to report on the implementation and effectiveness of current provisions in bye-laws for abandoned vehicles, left with their registration plates intact, how often is this being reported, are the bye-law provisions adequate to deal with the situation.
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 and are not in fact abandoned, such as:
- vehicles poorly parked
- vehicles causing an obstruction
- vehicles involved in residential parking disputes
- Broken down vehicles
- Untaxed and uninsured vehicles
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 to 27th November 2019
|
January – November 27th 2019 |
Abandoned Vehicles |
Burnt out Vehicles |
|
Total Reported |
676 |
135 |
|
Outcome |
|
|
|
Removed by SDCC Contractor |
43 |
99 |
|
Removed by owner/unknown |
301 |
25 |
|
Parking issues |
79 |
0 |
|
Car in use/Not Abandoned |
125 |
0 |
|
Garda Matter |
14 |
0 |
|
Open cases |
114 |
11 |