COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 12, 2022

QUESTION NO. 16

QUESTION: Councillor C. King

To ask the Chief Executive to confirm if any progress has been made in reducing the costs of clean-up for Halloween from previous years as a result of the various initiatives introduced by SDCC such as the mattress amnesty and the bulbs not bonfires scheme for example and can he make a statement on the matter.

REPLY:

The collection of bonfire materials commenced in September and as in other years the majority of material stockpiles which were intercepted were removed by Public Realm staff in the two week period prior to Halloween itself. A comparision of the details between this year and last is shown below.

• There were 184 bonfires recorded in 2022, very similar to the number in 2021 which was 180.
• This is in keeping with the major reduction on the numbers from previous years, 280 in 2020 and over 300 in preceding years. 
• While the number of bonfires is up very slightly the tonnage of materials collected is down on 2021. 
• The tonnage of material collected by the Council prior to Halloween in 2022 was 283 tonnes, this figures was 332 tonnes in 2021.
• The tonnage collected after Halloweenb was 296 tonnes in 2022, while this figure was 276 tonnes in 2021. 
• Total tonnage collected in 2022 is 579 tonnes compared to 608 tonnes in 2021.

It is not possible to provide information on costs as yet as all costs have not yet been accounted for, however it is expected that the overall cost will be down slightly on the 2021 cost which was €155,000.  It should also be noted that reinstatement of bonfire sites where needed will not take place until spring 2023 as ground conditions are not currently suitable.   All sites are reported as having been cleared of the remnants of the bonfires.

The costs associated with Halloween bonfires have increased in recent years and this relates to the increased efforts of the Council to intercept material, and the tonnage of material that is being intercepted before it reaches a bonfire.   While it is not possible to attribute a reduction in costs to the various Halloween initiatives, we do know that the number of fires held and the number of open spaces damaged or destroyed by bonfires has reduced dramatically and this reduction relates directly to those inititatives mentioned.  The diversion of matresses away from bonfires in particular is welcomed, as the burning of this type of material in the open obviously gives rise to environmental pollution.