Council reveals reasons why CCTV has yet to be used to prosecute illegal dumpers
Mayo County Council must form a CCTV oversight board before it can use surveillance cameras for waste management and litter enforcement,
Cllr Alma Gallagher raised a notice of motion at last week's meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District calling for stronger enforcement measures to tackle the problem of illegal dumping at bottle banks in Ballyhaunis and other black spots in the area. She also sought data on the number of convictions for illegal dumping in the Claremorris-Swinford district since legislation was passed in 2022 allowing local authorities to set up CCTV cameras in dumping hotspots. This legislation was required in order to bypass restrictions on CCTV enforcement imposed by GDPR.
In response, the council’s environment section said there have been no convictions as of yet as the commencement order was not signed until last February and there are further measures required before it can use CCTV for enforcement purposes. This includes a long list of standard operating procedures and the formation of a CCTV oversight board.
Cllr Paul Lawless supported Cllr Gallagher's motion and said continuous illegal dumping was frustrating for Tidy Towns and other groups.
“GDPR feels like a mechanism to protect criminals,” he said.
Cllr Neil Cruise added that a review needs to be carried out of the companies who manage the county’s bottle banks and said that the practice of glass from bottle banks being hauled to Cork and Dublin for disposal in this day and age is "nuts".
