COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM / TEMPLEOGUE / FIRHOUSE / BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

MOTION NO.9

MOTION: Councillor E. Murphy

To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the rise of illegal signage across the Firhouse - Bohernabreena LEA on public land and public boundaries.

REPORT:

The Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, was introduced to provide for the prevention and control of litter pollution and the prevention of the defacement of certain places and matters relating thereto. This Act gives the Council extensive powers to deal with litter and litter offenders and outlines general obligations, offences and enforcement.

The Council enforces the provisions of Section 19 of the Act with regard to all illegal signage, and fines are issued where possible. All signage erected illegally is subject to enforcement action under the Act and in the event where those responsible fail to remove signs, the Council arranges for removal. 

It should be noted that in some instances of illegal signage, difficulties can arise in successfully communicating with the company listed on illegal signage / promotional materials. There is a current high-profile instance of illegal signage, spanning several local authority administrative areas which exemplifies this difficulty.

With regard to repeat offenders, it is the policy of the Council to initiate direct prosecution against the alleged offender.   It should be noted that a difficulty arises in identifying the owners of businesses which use website addresses or phone numbers only and therefore enforcement action proves problematic in this regard.  It should be noted however that, in accordance also with the provisions of the Section 19 Litter Pollution Act 1997 as amended, signage is not illegal if placed on private property with the consent of the property owner.  In some high-profile areas signage has been erected on private property with the permission of the owner and fines/prosecution cannot be pursued in such instances.  

There are currently several files relating to illegal signage with our Law Department. While it is not possible to provide the detail by electoral area, I can confirm that a number of companies relating to this electoral area are among those files currently with Law. There are many repeat offences for a small number of companies.   175 fines were issued across the county for unauthorised signs under section 19.1 of Litter Pollution act, from 1st January 2024 to 10th March 2025.