Council powerless to prosecute bottle bank dumpers

A recycling centre – mainly used for bottles – has been turned into ‘a blatant dumping ground’ for domestic refuse.

Cllr Karey McHugh claimed that the recycling centre in Tuam is being abused by residents who come there to dump their household rubbish.

It has been claimed that Galway County Council have no powers to come down on those responsible because they cannot use CCTV footage to identify those responsible.

Cllr McHugh said it was ironic that those responsible have been caught on camera, but the evidence cannot be used to prosecute them – because of data protection regulations.

Last weekend, the recycling centre in Tuam was nearly full of ‘black bag refuse’, dumped outside some of the bins. The bags containing were dumped there over Saturday and Sunday when there were no Council workers present.

Cllr Karey McHugh said that until legislation is passed that will allow the use of CCTV footage, the problem of illegal dumping will continue at these recycling centres.

“It is hard to understand how people can come with their refuse and dump it at a bottle bank and think that they can get away with it,” she said.

“The unfortunate thing is that they are getting away with it because the powers and laws are not in place to prosecute those who are responsible.

“It is shocking what is happening and nothing can be done about it. People are being given a licence to dump illegally and because of the restrictions in place, nothing can be done to prosecute them.

“For the past couple of years, I have been trying to get the laws changed that would result in CCTV camera footage be used in criminal prosecutions such as this.

“It is slow coming but something is happening that might allow the use of images of individuals that are dumping illegally,” Cllr McHugh added.