CCTV must be used to tackle illegal dumping

Labour Cllr Angela Feeney has backed the campaign by Senator Mark Wall to change the law so CCTV can be used by local authorities to tackle illegal dumping.

The practice of illegal dumping continues to damage natural environments throughout the country and councils must be empowered to address this harmful behaviour.

Cllr Feeney said: “Illegal dumping is a scourge throughout the country. Given that we are now reporting 40 to 50 incidents of illegal dumping each week in Kildare, many of these are at locations, which have just recently been cleaned at a cost to everyone. There has been an 11% increase in dumping at €3 million cost to Kildare County Council each year, money that could be so well used elsewhere. It is causing untold damage to our environment. There are many community groups who continue to volunteer to protect their local area by cleaning up illegally dumped waste. Illegal dumping can potentially cause severe problems for those in rural areas, including preventing flood waters from draining effectively, and local authorities must be empowered to address this.

“One tool long used by local authorities as an effective deterrent is CCTV. Despite this, it would seem that question marks are being raised around the use of CCTV by our local authorities due to data protection concerns. The Labour Party has asked the Minister to investigate this, and our Senator Mark Wall has also prepared a new draft law that would address these concerns around data protection and GPDR. Councils have to be authorised by law to allow the processing of personal data such as the gathering and using of images of identifiable individuals by CCTV to use as evidence in the prosecution of dumping cases

“The reality is, being able to identify the culprits through the use of CCTV is a deterrent to this behaviour. Some local authorities are now reporting 40 to 50 incidents of illegal dumping each week, many of these are at locations which have just recently been cleaned at a cost to us all.