Connacht Tribune
Data protection frustrating efforts to tackle illegal dumping
Data protection red tape is blocking those trying to tackle the scourge of illegal dumping, a meeting of County Galway Joint Policing Committee (JPC) was told.
According to Cllr Shaun Cunniffe (Ind), councillors have been told that new bylaws to regulate the collection of waste will be restricted due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – as waste collectors will not be able to divulge the names of those who have contracts with them.
Furthermore, Cllr Cunniffe said a list of those who are disposing of rubbish correctly would be useless, adding that until there is a “TV licence-style” waste collection register, there would be a reliance on community clean-ups to stop the countryside becoming a haven for fly-tippers.
“If the waste disposal companies were to inform us of those who have a waste disposal contract, you would only have a list of those who are compliant.
“We need to confirm how people dispose of waste and ensure that it is compliant with the waste disposal regulations,” he continued.
Cllr Cunniffe said that having been involved in various community clean-ups, and bearing witness to the work that community groups like Tidy Towns do, he was often left wondering if he was “mad” to be cleaning up other people’s rubbish.
Senior Executive Scientist with Galway County Council, Ann Dolan, said Council resources were stretched to the limit dealing with illegal dumping and said there was to be a move away from community clean-ups – with local authorities tasked by the instructions from Government to come up with more effective means of eliminating fly-tipping.
“The Department has said . . . they don’t want funding used for cleanups. They don’t see the value in it and personally, myself, I don’t either.
“We’re just moving the problem – moving it from one road to another,” said Ms Dolan.
Chair of the JPC’s Illegal Dumping and Litter Awareness sub-committee, Cllr Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher (FG), told members that GDPR was also making it difficult to secure the erection of CCTV cameras at dumping hotspots – but the message that those caught would be “crisply fined” was getting out.
The Council has not yet appointed somebody to monitor CCTV and that was something he said was a priority for the sub-committee.
Cllr Maher suggested mirroring a community effort in Limerick where Good Friday would be used as a county-wide clean-up day.
“It is a great initiative for Galway to follow suit,” said Cllr Maher. “If we all came together for two hours that day, we could clean the county.”
Cllr James Charity (Ind) said that while community efforts were great at promoting collective responsibility, it was not good enough that the many were expected to clean up for the few.
“This is wanton and deliberate vandalism,” said Cllr Charity, adding that the confusion over GDPR were making it impossible for CCTV to be effective.
Taking the N84 Headford Road as an example, he said there were 10,000 cars per day travelling that road – and if GDPR required the permission of every driver to record their data because of the dumping site’s position next to the road, CCTV could not be used.
“This is a legislative issue and the Oireachtas needs to deal with it,” he added.
Chair of the JPC, Cllr Pete Roche (FG), said where there is currently CCTV installed, a more concerted effort needed to be made to extract the footage when illegal dumping occurred.
“The company that installed the CCTV cameras are not efficient enough in coming out and removing the chip to identify the perpetrator,” said Cllr Roche who explained the footage “eats its tail” after a relatively short period of time.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
