South Dublin County Cllr Charlie O’Connor has said that illegal dumping across the county has reached such an acute level that more stringent measures are required to crackdown on those responsible. O’Connor who is also a General Election candidate in Dublin South West was commenting following receipt of information from the Local Authority Chief Executive which reveals that €20,000 was spent in 2018 towards responding to over 200 complaints of dumping in the South Dublin uplands. “Every single week I hear from locals concerned about the rise in illegal littering and fly tipping on streets and in the mountains in South County Dublin. In one housing estate in Tallaght, Mac Uilliam has to be cleaned up on a regular basis by Public Realm staff,” he said.
“Not only is the cost of dealing with other people’s waste draining resources away from important public services in our area, it’s also polluting our own communities that we should be taking pride in. We are fortunate to have such a picturesque landscape on our doorstep including the popular Hellfire Club – it beggars belief as to why people would consciously choose to destroy that. “The installation of CCTV cameras has helped in the last number of years but enhancing the penalties for dumping is the only way to truly deter those who are content with illegally dumping their rubbish.
“The PURE environmental project does excellent work in collaboration with SDCC to manage incidents of fly tipping in the uplands but their workload should only be supported by the community not further added to. It’s disappointing that some are happy to dispose of their waste so poorly and to make it someone else’s problem to deal with. “The fact that taxpayers forked out roughly €6 million since 2016 on picking up other people’s rubbish means that holding illegal dumpers to account is very important,” he concluded.
