Half of Cork litter fines go unpaid

A get-tough approach has been called for after it was revealed that Cork County Council’s anti-litter unit issued 322 fines last year, but just 54% of these have been paid.
County Hall officials processed payment for 175 of the 322 fines and 30 cases have been sent for prosecution.
Similarly, up to November of last year, Cork City Council issued 755 fines, 405 of which have been paid.
The founder of Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) organisation, Dr Tom Cavanagh, says anti-dumping measures are not working and offenders do not fear being caught.
Mr Cavanagh said more people need to be pursued through the courts to send out the message that dumping will not be tolerated.
“Councils are very slow to bring the dumpers into court. They do catch some but they don’t bring them to court. The Gardaí don’t want to enforce it and the councils are definitely weak at it,” he added.
Mr Cavanagh said the best deterrent to dumping and littering is to take people to court and name and shame them.