Councillor wants fingerprinting for litter louts

Cllr Frank McDermott (FG) has asked if it was possible to check litter found in the countryside for fingerprints, in a bid to catch the culprits who left it there.

He made his comments after Westmeath County Council official Declan Leonard, speaking at a Mullingar Municipal District meeting, said that it was costing thousands to clear up one area at a time.

“This is one of the things where the budget comes constantly under pressure because of the amount of illegal dumping,” said Mr Leonard.

“It’s very hard to get the message out there – people are still dumping. And on a one-off basis, if we were to go out with a lorry, two or three men and a JCB, it all adds up. It goes into thousands just to get an area cleaned up.

“Generally it’s people close to the area that are doing the dumping,” continued Mr Leonard.

“We’re trying to get that message out there that it costs money, money that you could be spent on improving things, has to be diverted into just picking up litter.”

Another issue the council have to deal with is the maintenance of lifebuoys, which are constantly being taken or vandalised.

Cllr Frank McDermott, while thanking the council outdoor staff who did a “terrific job” of presenting the Fore Collinstown and Castlepollard for the recent Tri an Mhí event, wanted a better way of catching litter louts.

“When I, or you, or anybody sees somebody dumping, we get the bag, we go through the bag. And while I know perfectly well who did it, unless I make a statement and I’m prepared to go into court to defend what I saw, you can’t do nothing about it,” said Cllr McDermott.

“And there’s where the weakness is. Can you not resort to fingerprinting for instance?

“This organisation has acted on anonymous phone calls, but there should be some way, and people out there know that if they don’t find an envelope or a credit card statement in the bag then nobody can do anything. But if they resorted to finger printing, it would confirm it.”

David Hogan, director of services, said fingerprinting was not the answer.

”The department have put in a number of on the spot fines now. It will make it a bit easier to impose a fine for litter louts,” said Mr Hogan.

“If there is litter dumped, I don’t think finger printing is the answer. We need to be able to find evidence, a name or something, or we get some member of the public who is willing to give us information about who is dumping.

“We take a zero tolerance on littering because it’s destroying our communities, destroying our county. And it’s costing enormous money.”