DUBLIN
City Council has criticised a survey that deems areas of the capital to be
litter blackspots.
Dublin
fared badly in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey, which
found that Dublin Airport and its environs were littered and both Dublin city
and the north inner city were litter blackspots.
Dublin
City Council said it was astonished at the level of
“misrepresentation
? within
the IBAL report and at the misleading headlines this has given rise to in the
media.
“We
have consistently outlined our reservations to IBAL about their methodology,
? a
spokesperson for the city council told Northside People.
“For
example, each IBAL report is a snapshot and to claim a place is the cleanest or
most littered on this basis is absurd.
“Also,
there is no weighting given to footfall levels and site selection and indeed
area selection is arbitrary.
“The
cleaning regime in the city, despite financial constraints, has been maintained
at a consistent level over the years and indeed improved in many areas.
“The
report published (on August 29) does not reflect the overall level of
cleanliness in Dublin city.
?
The
spokesman said the results, as published, were not consistent with the findings
of the National Litter Monitoring Body, carried out under the aegis of the
Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
“These
findings for 2010 show that 20.5 per cent of the city is litter free while 60.3
per cent is slightly littered, 32.4 per cent is moderately littered, and only
1.5 per cent significantly littered.
“No
area of the city was deemed to be grossly littered.
?
The
city council said it recognises there are problems in the north inner city area
which arise from unacceptable practices of dumping and littering.
“Through
a combination of enforcement and working with the local community we are
endeavouring to improve the overall cleanliness of that particular area,
? the
spokesman stated.
“The
IBAL report also fails to differentiate between different local authority boundaries
within the Greater Dublin region.
“It
should be noted that over 25 per cent of the sites surveyed as part of the
report are outside the administrative area of Dublin City Council, yet are
reported on as if they are part of its administrative area.
“IBAL
and An Taisce reports consistently use the terminology
‘Clean to European
Norms’ when they have admitted to the city council that there is no such
standard. We understand that they are using a British standard.
?
Dublin
City Council said it continues to devote resources to ensuring that the city is
as clean and litter free as is possible.
“The
assistance of the public in making use of litter bins has contributed to the
increasingly clean image which the city has built up,
? he added.
A
spokesperson for IBAL said it commissions An Taisce to monitor cities and towns
in accordance with international standards and does not itself influence the
findings of such monitoring.
“The
consistency of the findings over the last 10 years speaks for their
robustness,
? the spokesperson told Northside People.
“It
is true that some areas of Dublin surveyed lie outside the remit of Dublin City
Council.
“This
is because we believe that approach roads are vitally important to the
perceived cleanliness of a city.
“We
did not assert that Dublin City Council was responsible for such approaches.
?
The
spokesperson added:
“We have acknowledged publicly that the city centre areas
of the capital are clean, but areas beyond this are not.
“IBAL
has nothing to gain from deeming areas to be dirty. Its sole aim is to ensure
the entire country of Ireland is clean.
?