Illegal dumping in a rural area of Westmeath.

Almost €500,000 a year spent on dumping clean-ups

Westmeath County Council is spending close on €500,000 each year on cleaning up illegal dumping and littering in the county.

At last week’s finance meeting of the council, Cllr Frankie Keena raised the issue of litter collection and said that “alternative ways” would have to be looked at on a national level to tackle the scourge of indiscriminate dumping in all local authority areas.

The council’s head of finance Jimmy Dalton agreed that “very significant amounts of money” are being spent on direct clean-up operations as a result of what he described as “a blight on our country” and he put the figure at “close to half a million”.

“I wonder has the crow come home to roost?” asked Cllr Johnnie Penrose, who made the observation that not half as much rubbish was being dumped on back lanes all around county Westmeath when the council was responsible for its own bin collections. “It is completely and totally unsustainable,” he said.

The council cathaoirleach, Cllr Ken Glynn, said he had to ring the council on the day of the finance meeting to report yet another incidence of illegal dumping. “It is ridiculous and very frustrating,” he said.

“At the end of the day, if someone drops a piece of litter and doesn’t pick it up, then we have to do it,” said Jimmy Dalton. “That is the simple fact of the matter and if we don’t pick it up then it is detrimental to our county.”