Council reveals number of people asked for proof of waste disposal

A member of Westmeath County Council has expressed his dismay at the news that an average of just 10 householders per month are being asked to provide proof of their waste disposal arrangements.

The stark figure was revealed to the October meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District in response to a question tabled by Cllr John Dolan. He wanted to know if these were “just random visits” or if there was a definite plan in place to target householders across the District who are not disposing of their rubbish properly.

“Is there any way we can increase that figure?” asked Cllr Dolan, but Director of Services, Barry Kehoe, said he could not give an answer to that question as the inspections are carried out by the Environment Section of the council.

“I will certainly pass on your comments to them,” said Mr Kehoe, who acknowledged that the number of inspections was “low.”

In its written response to Cllr Dolan's question, the council stated that householders are obliged to provide “documentary proof of waste disposal” when requested to do so, and that failure to comply with the bye-laws can lead to a fixed penalty notice of €75 or, if convicted in court, to a penalty of up to €2,500.

“Typically, this council would formally request waste disposal arrangements from 10 householders each month,” the reply stated.

The head of finance with Westmeath County Council, Jimmy Dalton, told a finance meeting of the municipal district last year that the council is spending close on €500,000 each year on cleaning up illegal dumping and littering in the county.

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.

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 county” and he put the figure at “close to half a million” in Westmeath alone.