McAuliffe calls on council to tackle dumping issue

Local Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe has said that Dublin City Council and its commercial operators are not taking the issue of dumping and stealing at clothes banks seriously.

McAuliffe said that Dublin City Council and Clothes Pods have failed to identify major design flaws in clothes banks which allow people to both dump steal, and rummage around at clothes banks around the city.

He said that both parties involved are “failing to resolve the problem”, which is resulting in “unsightly and unhygienic” surroundings for residents.

The situation has escalated to such a point that Dublin City Council was forced to remove clothes banks on Ballyboggan Road earlier in January.

The prevalence of dumping recently forced the Council to remove clothes banks on Ballyboggan Road this month.

He said, “the clothes recycling bins appear to have people searching through them regularly and discarding any items that they don’t want on the ground, whether it is opportunists selling the items online or vulnerable people looking for clothing.”

The boom in so-called “fast fashion” websites and apps, such as Shein and Temu is also likely to exacerbate the problem.

“The regular cleaning of these recycling locations is a drain on Dublin City Council Council resources and communities are still faced with large build-ups of dumped materials each weekend and bank holiday,” McAuliffe said.

He cited that at a local level, the centres at Seamus Ennis Road and Shangan are particular black spots which he says is “very frustrating” for local residents.

“It is long overdue that the Council and the operator tackle this problem through a change in design to prevent people accessing the bins and through utilisation of CCTV to combat illegal dumping.”

“If this is not possible, then Dublin City Council should remove the clothes banks where this is a consistent problem.”

He noted that the 2024 opening of the North City Operations Depot in Ballymun is an example of what can be done to tackle the problem, with the centre making it possible for people to recycle a wide range of materials; he added that more people should be made aware of the service it provides.

He added that Saint Vincent De Paul also has an excellent policy where those in need of clothing can access support at any of their shops.”