Council not yet able to use CCTV to deter illegal dumping

Fingal County Council has told councillors that it cannot yet introduce CCTV as a means to deter illegal dumping.

At a recent Local Area Committee meeting for Rush-Lusk/Swords, the local authority told councillors that the technology cannot be used because the relevant legislation has been not yet been passed.

Green Party councillor for the area Karen Power called on the council to implement the use of CCTV at illegal dumping hotspots.

However, the Circular Economy Bill, which will permit the use of GDPR-compliant surveillance to combat illegal dumping has not yet come into law.

The use of CCTV has been championed by several councillors in this year as they say illegal dumping has gotten worse in recent months.

Power says that the measure will prevent the “unsightly and illegal dumping and littering.”

A report issued by the council said that the use of overt and covert CCTV is being planned to deter fly-tipping once it has been authorised.

This process will involve consultation with various stakeholders and will not be ready for use this year, the local authority has said.

Once a code of practice has been developed, CCTV technologies can be used “efficiently in a cost-effective manner.”

The council says that grant funding was sought under the Anti-Dumping Initiative 2022 for CCTV at several known “black spot” in eastern areas of the county.

Independent councillor Tony Murphy welcomed the measure but said that more needs to be done in the interim.

Bulky items such as “sofas, mattresses and carpets” are often being dumped around the county and the council needs to consider “what’s being removed from the ditches,” he said.

He couldn’t “for the life of me” understand why skips weren’t provided in housing estates in Fingal, he said.

Most councillors agreed with Power’s motion that CCTV needs to be brough in as soon as possible, with the high cost of clearing illegally dumped waste an often-cited reason.

Fine Gael councillor Tom O’Leary said he “looked forward” to a time where CCTV can be used but said a skip-service for some housing estates should be looked into.

The cost of the scheme, which would be approximately €600,000, was too high however, O’Leary said, and cheaper options should also be looked at.

“Let’s stop the littering of our wonderful county,” he said.

Independent councillor Cathal Boland said a cost-benefit analysis of Murphy’s suggestion should be looked into.

Money is being spent “taking stuff out of ditches,” he said and if other local authorities are providing the service, “there must be value to it.”

He said it seemed “very foolish” to be “doing the same thing over and over again – spending money, spending money, spending money.”