Almost €300k spent on removing rubbish in Limerick

COUNCIL has spent almost €300,000 cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish in the last three years.

It has led to 63 prosecutions in the court, with the public spend described as “obscene” by Labour councillor Conor Sheehan, who sought the information at this month’s council meeting.

Across Limerick’s four electoral districts, the figures reveal that local authority bosses spent €293,651.93 on clean-ups.

“This is an enormous cost to the taxpayer. It’s an obscene amount to be spending on this,” Cllr Sheehan said.

The lion’s share of the spend to clean up after illegal dumping came in the metropolitan district, which covers the urban areas of Limerick.

Across three years in this district, a total of €161,260 was spent by local authority bosses to clean up after people who dumped their litter.

Last year alone, council spent some €92,378 in clean-ups.

It was significantly up on 2022 when €66,191.95 was spent in the district, and 2021, where €22,719 was paid out.

In 2021, council secured 20 prosecutions in Limerick, in 2022 that figure was 27.

However, in 2023, the year when council paid out most to clean up illegal dumping in the metropolitan district, there were just 16 successful prosecutions across Limerick.

In a written reply to Cllr Sheehan, senior engineer Aidan Finn pointed out there was a four-month break in court sessions which saw a number of adjournments.

Across rural Limerick, the spend to clean up after illegal dumping was lower.

In the Adare/Rathkeale district, council spent €42,644 over three years on clear-ups.

In Cappamore/Kilmallock, this figure stood at €24,168.

And in Newcastle West, the spend totalled €45,475.

Cllr Sheehan has called for bin services to be brought back under council control.

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“Everybody should have to have a bin. The more people have a bin, the cheaper it is for everyone else,” he said.

The City North councillor referred to the recent Irish Business Against Litter report which highlighted issues of dumping across Limerick.

He said he hopes new laws which allow CCTV footage to be admissible in evidence may bring a reduction in dumping across the city.