Unauthorised scrap metal facility shut

A MASSIVE scrap metal enterprise operated by a number of families on the outskirts of Limerick city was yesterday dismantled in a clampdown on unauthorised waste facilities.

A multi-agency task group comprising of gardaí, customs and excise officials and staff from Limerick city and county councils were involved in the move against a five-acre site at Monaclinoe, Ballysimon.

The unauthorised waste facility had been operating for a number of years.

Officials from the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue were also involved and reportedly spoke to some of the people operating the site.

Piles of scrapped cars, engine parts and unauthorised waste were moved from the site where up to 30 people, including children, live.

Vehicles had been dismantled at the site without licence and the scrap sold on in a lucrative trade.

Gerry Behan, director of services in Limerick County Council, said: “The site has been operating for some years now and has been the subject of various court actions over that period. With the current high value of scrap metal due to world demand, a lucrative international trade in metals, engines and other car parts now exists.

“There are many legitimate facilities which abide with and meet strict environmental criteria in dealing with scrap metal. These sites have gone to great expense to ensure that they comply with the relevant legislation, including planning permission and permits, and are therefore at a severe commercial disadvantage when compared with an illegal operator.”

Caroline Curley of Limerick City Council said the authorities are under increasing pressure from the European Commission to clamp down on illegal scrap metal sites.

“We have been given a deadline of the end of this year to seek to close these type of facilities,” she said. “Similar actions have successfully been undertaken in other parts of the country, using a joint agency approach, and have been found to be very effective.”