COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
QUESTION NO. 2
QUESTION: Councillor William Joseph Carey
"To ask the Chief Executive to outline the process for removal of abandoned cars and how this can be achieved in the shortest time possible?"
REPLY:
The provisions of Section 71 of the Waste Management Acts apply in respect of abandoned vehicles.
Each report received is investigated by the Council's Litter Warden Service; the steps taken are as follows:
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.
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
526 vehicles were reported as abandoned to the Council in 2021. As a result of investigations carried out, the Council removed a total of 30 cars that were deemed to have been abandoned.
The outcome of the other reports is as follows:
- 254 cars were either moved after the owner was contacted by the Council or were not at the reported location when investigated
- 159 cars were in use or being sold/put back on the road by their owner
- 41 cases were a Garda matter
- 31 cases related to parking issues
The remaining cases were still under investigation at the end of the year.