Survey finds two-thirds of dumping fines unpaid

Two thirds of all fines issued by Galway County Council for illegal dumping and littering remain unpaid.

The figures also reveal that on average, a quarter of all illegal dumping fines issued by the local authority are cancelled, although there were huge variances depending on which part of the county the fines were issued.

The shock figures have led to calls for the Council to take a tougher stance on litterers who feel they can get away with blighting the countryside.

A county councillor has called on the Council to ‘name and shame’ illegal dumpers by posting CCTV photographs of culprits online.

Just 38% of the 746 litter fines issued by the Council during 2014 and 2015 were paid.

The rest of the fines issued were either cancelled by the Council (28%) or remain to be paid by the perpetrator (34%).

The data was released to Adhmhaidin, the morning current affairs programme on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Community wardens in some parts of the county were busier issuing litter fines than they were in others.

It showed 42% or 152 of the 355 total litter fines issued across County Galway in 2015 were for illegal dumping in Connemara, while 14% (52) were in Athenry/Oranmore municipal district; 13% (46) were in Ballinasloe; 11% (40) were in Loughrea; and 18% (65) were in Tuam.

There was a large variance in whether fines were cancelled, depending on what part of the county illegal dumpers were fined.

In Ballinasloe, some 15% of all litter fines issued were cancelled by the Council but it was more than twice that percentage (38%) for those who were issued with fines for dumping in Tuam.

The level of cancelled fines was 19% in Athenry/Oranmore, 26% in Connemara, and 20% in Loughrea.

A Council spokesperson explained that one of the reasons more than one in every four litter fines is cancelled is because the culprits are caught by identifying vehicle number plates on CCTV but their addresses do not match.

The Council confirmed that some 133 (37%) fines for illegal dumping remain unpaid by the culprits.

It said that five people were found guilty for non-payment of fines and one person paid the dumping fine one the Council took legal proceeding for non-payment.

A further six individuals are being brought before the courts for non-payment, and they are awaiting a trial date.

Connemara county councillor, Tom Healy (SF) said the local authority should be more proactive in pursuing illegal dumpers and enforcing fines.

“To have 62% of fines unpaid causes serious issues in terms of how much weight the threat of enforcement for littering carries in the county. If persons guilty of illegal dumping feel they will not suffer the consequences of their actions, then communities and the environment will suffer for this. Illegal dumping costs the local authority and the taxpayer and imposes a burden on already overstretched budgets,” he said.

Councillor Healy added: “I can understand that there may be issues associating car registration plates and the guilty individuals where addresses do not match up, but where this is the case, we must up the ante to catch these people in the act. I have argued previously that we employ new portable camera technology to catch these individuals in the act at known dumping blackspots.

“This technology can send photos immediately to Gardaí and local authority staff so that we can try and apprehend the person leaving the scene. Galway County Council should also follow Dublin City Council’s lead and publish all photos of individuals caught on camera on their website. People who engage in illegal dumping have no regard for the wellbeing of their fellow citizens and should be shamed as such.”