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€1 million has been allocated to tackle illegal dumping during the Covid19 crisis.
It’s after an increase of illegal dumping across the country including a 30 per cent rise in places.
Minister Richard Bruton has announced that €1m of funds from the Anti Dumping Initiative will be ring-fenced to tackle the increase, and will include waste removal and installing CCTV.
Gardai discovered a large amount of material dumped near the N7 yesterday. They say they’ve identified the person involved and have passed the details on to the local council to prosecute.
Dublin City Council says its seen an increase of between 25 and 30 per cent in illegal dumping during the crisis.
While Meath County Council has been forced to reinstate a five euro fee per bag at civic centres which had been waived to try to curb illegal dumping.
It’s after crowds of over 4,000 people queued over four days last weekend, making social distancing at the centres unmanageable.
Wicklow County Council, says it has recorded a significant increase in illegal dumping and fly tipping of individual items and household waste, since the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced.
The council says the evidence is that the dumping is occurring more locally, with offenders travelling short distances because of the 2 kilometer travel restriction.
The number of bulky items being dumped, such as mattresses, has also increased with eight collected at separate locations on one day alone recently.
Street bins in Wicklow have seen big increases in volume, even when few people are out and about.
Officials say the waste enforcement team is operating at full capacity, with an increase in the use of CCTV in order to catch and prosecute more offenders.
LITTER FINES
In total 44 cases of illegal dumping and 350 litter fines in Wicklow were before the courts in 2018 with a total of €22,420 being imposed in fines.
The highest fine levied was €2,500, which involved an individual dumping a skip bag of waste in Kilcarra in Arklow.
Three separate incidents of illegal burning of waste at Rathnew resulted in total fines of €1,200 while over a dozen bags of waste dumped opposite Ballywaltrim Cottages in Bray resulted in a total penalty of €900
The figures come after data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that since 2015, the National Environmental Complaints Line has received more than 3,500 calls about issues ranging from noise pollution to illegal dumping.
While a small number of those were found in counties Donegal, Galway, and Tipperary, the vast majority are in the four local authority areas in Dublin and in the nearby counties of Kildare and Wicklow.