Anti-litter drive demanded

DUBLIN City Council has responded strongly to calls for a targeted anti-litter drive to be initiated in the north inner city after the area finished bottom of the table in a national survey.

In the last Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey of 2019, the results of which were announced last week, the north inner city finished last of 40 neighbourhoods across 27 Irish towns and cities surveyed for cleanliness. Deirdre Duffy, a Fine Gael candidate in Dublin Central for the general election, said: “This is a disgrace and it is unfair on residents and businesses in the north inner city.  This report is damning. It says that the capital's north inner city is seriously littered. How can the citizens of Dublin Central enjoy amenities like parks and cycleways with such litter?

“Dublin City Council must initiate an area-wide anti-litter drive including targeted enforcement against illegal dumping, a high energy awareness campaign and an audit to ensure that there are enough public bins in the area.”

Ms Duffy added: “We cannot allow this to continue for another year and we must see action taken immediately.”

In a statement, the city council said it welcomes the positive results for both Dublin City Centre and Ballymun in the 2019 IBAL surveys. 

“Seventy percent of all sites surveyed in the Dublin City Area achieved an A or B grade in the surveys,” a spokesperson pointed out.   

“Despite the focus of significant street cleaning resources and engagement with communities through local initiatives the challenge of addressing persistent dumping of waste on a daily basis remains an ongoing impediment to ensuring that some of the areas surveyed in the north inner city area achieve more positive outcomes.”

The city council said the survey results do not reflect the level of effort undertaken by individuals and communities in the north inner city.

It added that the results also do not reflect the activity undertaken to maintain these areas by Dublin City Council and “are not a true picture of the entire area but a reflection of the challenges faced in certain areas to counteract the problems caused by a minority of people that negatively affects the wider community”.

“Initiatives to tackle littering and dumping within Dublin City are undertaken on an ongoing basis that include investigations of dumped waste, investigations of household waste management arrangements and the use of CCTV to prevent, deter and detect offences,” the spokesperson said.   

“Street cleaning and removal of dumping is carried out on an ongoing basis and areas with known issues are the focus of specific resource allocation.  

“A local litter hotline is provided and dedicated local environmental services unit is maintained to respond to requests and complaints.

“Local actions are undertaken including the engagement of local schools in anti-litter programmes and the provision of environmental initiatives through the Community Environment Action Fund.” 

The spokesperson said that in order to provide a counterpoint to the snapshot picture that the IBAL survey results present, Dublin City Council carries out regular assessments of street cleaning throughout the city to ensure that it is providing regular and efficient street cleaning to all areas.  

“Streets within the north inner city area have been assessed weekly on this basis and results in the last quarter of 2019 when the IBAL surveys took place show more positive results generally across this area,” the spokesperson added.

“As is always the case with the results of this survey, the city council will focus on maintaining standards in those areas that received a positive result and improving the condition of areas that did not.”

The city council is calling on everyone to play their part in ensuring that their community is litter free and household waste is disposed of correctly using an authorised waste collector. Meanwhile, Swords enjoyed a fantastic result in the same survey. See story on Page 5.