Legal action against litter offenders

Council urged to ‘name and shame’ those at fault

Tipperary Co Council has brought several prosecutions against litter offenders this year and has more cases pending in the courts.

This month’s meeting of the council was informed of legal action recently taken by the Environment section. Most of it related to the south of the county.

Three successful prosecutions for illegal dumping and two waste collection permit breaches resulted in the awarding of costs and fines of €8,000 in the third quarter of this year. In July the council operated an “Environment checkpoint” with An Garda Síochána, resulting in the payment of a €500 fine for non-compliance with a waste collection permit. Another waste collector paid fines amounting to €1,000 in relation to a similar offence in September.

Environment Enforcement Officer Daniel Murray inspected and removed seven bags of domestic waste that had been dumped over a bridge at the Vee, a scenic beauty spot near Ballyporeen. Evidence found in the bags resulted in an offender being fined €100 while costs of €3,926 were awarded to the council at Cashel District Court.

Mr Murray inspected another six bags of domestic waste dumped at Clogheen. Again, evidence in the bags led to an offender being identified and six on-the-spot €150 litter fines were issued and paid.

Further illegal dumping at the Glen of Aherlow was investigated by the council. Five bags of waste were found and a prosecution was undertaken, which resulted in fines of €1,500 at Nenagh District Court.

Meanwhile, 39 litter fines were issued in Nenagh, more than any other district in the county.

Senior Executive Officer Marion O’Neill told the meeting that another five or six cases will be coming before the courts before the end of this year. A number of these relate to offenders that have not paid the fixed penalty notice.

Welcoming the prosecutions, Cllr Marie Murphy said the court cases need to be covered by local media so as to deter further littering and illegal dumping. In agreement was Cllr Pat English, who wanted to see the aforementioned offenders publicly named. A “name and shame” policy is the only way of tackling such behaviour, he said.

He and Cllr Seán Ryan welcomed the return of household waste inspections, which had been curtailed during the pandemic. The inspections involve council officers calling to houses and requesting evidence of licensed waste disposal. Cllr Ryan wondered if the council carries out second inspections in areas where litter blackspots have been identified.

Ms Murphy confirmed that the council does carry out follow-up household waste inspections. A “very small minority” was found to be non-compliant.