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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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There are growing clamours for households to prove how they are disposing of their domestic waste
Illegal dumping was cause for much discussion at a recent meeting of Longford County Council.
The conversation was sparked by a notice of motion by Cllr Seamus Butler that the council move to seek framework tenders for the collection of refuse from its tenants in the same way that Limerick Local Authorities have done.
ALSO READ: Over 20 illegal dumping cases reported each week in Longford
“I know there’s legislation coming into place where households have to show how they’re disposing of their domestic refuse,” said Cllr Butler.
“What I request is if it could be sent to the infrastructure SPC and looked at because we have a perennial problem. We have local authority estates in this town where 80% plus of the households have no visible means of disposing of their refuse.
“The likes of the tidy towns and Gary Brady and people like that are dealing with this week in, week out, year in, year out.
“Longford County Council is by far the biggest landlord in County Longford. Surely we have at least a moral responsibility to see what our tenants are doing with their refuse?
“We can talk about showing evidence and sending fines, but as far as I’m concerned, a lot of these people have no civil spirit whatsoever. They won’t pay the fine. They’ll go to Castlerea for the lunch and they’ll be back.
“What we need to do is something more concrete on behalf of the tenants. We could do an affordable system of refuse disposal.”
Cllr Gerry Warnock (Independent) agreed that a serious conversation needs to be had about waste disposal but that local authorities are “talking in a complete vacuum if it’s not dealt with at a national level”.
“The guys up there (in national government) are senior legislators and need to come out and first of all accept that we have a serious problem here and put in place more draconian legislation.
“I’m a huge fan of increased fines and attachment orders for people that are caught with that.”
Head of Finance for Longford County Council John McKeon said that the issue has been raised with the Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) on several occasions.
“There are recently new bylaws published that place an onus on households on how they’re disposing of their refuse,” he said.
“It is a problem that needs to be addressed and we will take it to the housing SPC.”
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