Dublin South West Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe has said he was ‘shocked’  at the reply he received recently from South Dublin County Council when they outlined that they paid out a whopping 1,307,747 euros in costs for recovery and disposal of 3,811 tonnes of illegally dumped  material  in the county last year.

Crowe said that at a time when resources for essential community projects are so limited it was criminal and unacceptable that this amount of money needed to be spent on removing illegal waste and called on South Dublin Council to adopt a more proactive approach in tackling the growing problem.

 Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“South Dublin County Council spent 1,307,747 euros on the recovery and disposal of 3,811 tonnes of waste material in the county. This huge tonnage and cost does not include the waste disposed of from litter picks, litter bins and street sweeping.

 “It is soul destroying to wake up and see your green space or area strewn with rubbish bags or worse.

“The Council has engaged and encouraged residents, youth groups and community associations to get involved in ‘clean ups’ and litter awareness programmes, but there is a small cohort who continue to dump regardless of its impact on the neighbourhood or local environment.

“It is not always easy for residents to intervene or stop this dumping and some areas are worse than others.

“At a time when resources are extremely scarce for community led projects, we need a new and fresh approach to illegal dumping.

“The use of cameras has been successful in detection but this clearly needs to be extended in a more imaginative way particularly to the hot spots where the large scale dumping is happening on a regular basis. We also need to see more pro-active  litter wardens issuing fines and making a more visible presence in the areas worst affected.

“The latest news from South Dublin County Council  of a 20% hike at the Ballymount Civic Amenity and Recycling Centre for green waste transported by cars increasing from €8 to €9.50.and general waste increasing from €15 to €18 will certainly not help end illegal dumping and will only be welcomed by the refuse company. ”