Residents ‘absolutely taking the piss’ disposing of waste

RESIDENTS are “just absolutely taking the piss” when it comes to correctly disposing of waste with some dumping household rubbish in their own estates, a councillor has said calling it “disgusting”.

Cllr Louise Dunne has slammed a “small few people” for dumping their household rubbish “knowing full-well that the council will go and clean up their mess” instead of paying their bin charges.

While the councillor said that the majority of people put effort into the upkeep of their properties around Tallaght, Cllr Dunne has said a minority of people lack respect for their community.

Blackspots for illegal dumping have cropped up in some housing estates across Tallaght, with fly-tippers making no effort to hide it, opting to dispose of household waste on footpaths and roadsides.

“I’m very well aware that we’re in a cost of living crisis but this is not just an issue during the cost of living crisis, this is an ongoing issue years and years,” Cllr Dunne said.

“I completely understand and am sympathetic of people who are struggling, I’ve been in that position myself where there was times where I couldn’t actually afford to top up my ESB bill.

“But also, it has to be said that there are people out there who have a complete lack of respect for the area they live in, their community, their neighbours, their own children and their environment.

“I won’t mention one of the estates, we all know them, we’ve asked for CCTV cameras to be put into the blackspots.

“The fact of it is, people are dumping their rubbish, are refusing to pay the €6 a week that you pay for your bins and dumping their rubbish knowing full-well that the council will go and clean up their mess.

“It’s disgusting. It’s absolutely shocking.”

One of the discussion points was around the need for legal proceedings to be undertaken against council tenants who are in breach of household waste bye-laws.

Bye-laws around household and commercial waste were introduced by South Dublin County Council in 2018, which ultimately lays out the procedures for dealing with waste in the county.

There is a waste enforcement division in the council which handles all issues pertaining to household waste, and Cllr Dunne asked if they can “be more proactive”.

“I can only imagine the council staff, the litter warden, staff who have to clean that up, how demoralised they must be,” Cllr Dunne said.

“Because they’re going out cleaning the estate today and tomorrow, again, it’s the exact same way.

“We need to sort this, we really need to sort this issue, it’s just horrendous and its embarrassing and its shameful.

“I feel sorry for people having to live in estates, going out to school with their kids, coming home from work and constantly looking at this because of a small few people that just are absolutely taking the piss.

“That’s exactly what it is, it’s a small few people and action needs to be taken, simple as that.”

Cllr Cathal King said that there are “people making decisions about whether to put out their bins or put food on the table or put money in the metre” but emphasised that the level of household rubbish being illegally dumped is “still not an excuse”.

The Sinn Féin councillor highlighted that when dumping starts to happen in estates, it attracts fly tippers who do not live in the community which adds to the problem.

Cllr Kieran Mahon labelled it as a “perennial issue” and called “for the need for societal response” in how waste is held and disposed of.

Some councillors mentioned how the issues around bin charges, which some may struggle to pay, were compounded by the privatisation of bin services.

In 2011, South Dublin County Council announced that it would be privatising bin collection services for the some 75,000 households in its area amid projections showing a €13m loss in providing domestic waste collection.

Calls were made by Cllr Leah Whelan among others at the council meeting last week for bin collection services to be taken back into the control of the local authority.

The council maintains a register of households which avail of a waste collection service which is updated on a quarterly basis.

“The register obviously does not include those who go directly with their household waste to an authorised facility, and a number of people do that and are happy to do that,” Sharon Conroy, senior executive officer in the council, said.

“Even though some people may have a collection service they’re paying for, they may still be culprits of dumping bags here or there. It’s not just about those who are not paying for it.

“Those who are not paying for it do need to be able to prove what they are doing to dispose of waste and that is up to our enforcement section to follow through on that.”

The council said that it does not have the resources to contact everyone on the register, but that they do contact “as many as we can”, by knocking on doors.

“Usually that is enough to get people to do the right thing,” Ms Conroy explained.

When there is a lack of engagement between the public and council, and there is a lack of proof of appropriate waste disposal, the household is issued a fine.

If the fine is not paid, legal action is taken by the council.

“The bags of illegal dumping, it’s an issue right around the county that we’re having,” Ms Conroy said.

“It’s not gone away, in fact, it does seem to be getting worse. At times there does seem to be particular black spots.”

The council committed to making a targeted response to the particular areas in Tallaght which have fallen foul to improper waste disposal by increasing the rate of doors being knocked on.

A Data Protection Impact Assessment needs to be carried out at each location where security cameras are to be installed, which poses a challenge for the council.

However, the council said it could put up fake cameras as a deterrent for now.