A top official at Mayo County Council said this week that he believed those responsible for illegal dumping should not be able to live freely in a civilised society.
Director of services for Mayo County Council, John Condon, was speaking at the February meeting of the local authority, in response to a number of complaints of illegal dumping around the county by councillors.
Mr Condon told the meeting that: "As regards the illegal dumping, a report will be prepared, but just to say at the outset, no words that I have can strongly enough abhor or condemn those responsible for illegal dumping.
"I would actually say that the people responsible for the illegal dumping of the refuse that has been described should not be allowed to live freely in a civilised society. They do not deserve that right if that is how they behave."
The issue was first raised at the meeting by Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who said: "The scourge of illegal dumping in our district and throughout the whole county is actually getting worse.
"Yesterday (Sunday, February 7 ) on the road out of Castlebar to Pontoon, near Clydagh bridge, there were several bags thrown on to the roadside and thrown into the drain, some of them they didn’t even make an attempt to disguise or hide.
"What action are we taking on it, how many cameras do we have in the district and county, how many prosecutions have we taken in the last two years? This has definitely got worse since the virus came in," he said.
Cllr Blackie Gavin backed up his constituency colleague, saying: "I saw on social media at the Booster Station walk in Castlebar, there was burnt-out cars and rubbish, and an issue that came up at the Castlebar area in the last few weeks was dumping at the N5 business park. I got several phone calls about the dumping on the Pontoon road at Clydagh and also some in the Breaffy area. I want to see some action on this dumping, it can’t continue, it has to be stopped, there are a lot of people out walking, it has to be stamped out and these people brought before the courts."
Cllr Damien Ryan told the meeting that it was a countywide issue and that prosecution was the only remedy to it. The issue of the use of CCTV cameras and potential issues over GDPR concerns, was raised by Cllr Gerry Coyle.
Responding to the questions Mr Condon told the members that there were currently concerns in relation to the use of CCTV and GDPR and these were being looked at on a national level.
He told the elected members: "We have in the past prosecuted people - I am talking about fines which have been paid and we have also initiated a number of court cases, which have been successful.
"In addition to that, we have used CCTV evidence successfully in these prosecutions. Now, problems have arisen with regard to CCTV over the past year or so, with the Data Protection Commissioner and a number of other local authorities in the south of the country. These issues arise in relation to people's rights under GDPR and it is making it more difficult to use CCTV in this kind of situation.
"There are discussions going on nationally involving the Local Government Management Association (LGMA ) and the Data Protection Commissioner to try and reach an agreed protocol that would enable us to use the CCTV in a way to try and secure prosecutions and to deter people from the anti-social behaviour that we have been talking about.
"CCTV is only one element of the evidence that we use in dealing with protections, other evidence includes having witnesses. A lot of this dumping which has gone on in recent days, there must be people who have seen those who deposited the waste at locations."
Mr Condon also appealed for any members of the public who have seen illegal dumping to come forward, saying: "If these people are willing to come forward we will talk to them in confidence, if you see something like that, you have a duty to report it.
"If we get the information we will use it to get the wrong-doers, our staff are also examining the contents of what was dumped to see will that give evidence. When people go to remote locations they have to drive there and away, and it may well be somebody saw them.
"If you did, do come forward, because if you don’t, you are ensuring it will happen again and again, and I would encourage anyone who has information to give it to us," he said.
