Coillte has spent €2m in past five years cleaning up after illegal dumping, with Cork a 'blackspot'

Coillte said there had been nearly 250 dumping incidents in its forests since the beginning of 2022. File picture

Forestry agency Coillte has had to spend almost €1m over the past two and a half years cleaning up after illegal dumping on its lands.

The semi-State company said there had been nearly 250 dumping incidents in its forests since the beginning of 2022.

Illegal waste was especially problematic in Co Cork, with 52 cases of dumping reported in West Cork and a further 18 in East Cork.

Coillte said altogether over the past five years, its clean-up and disposal bill has come to about €2m.

Figures released following an environmental information request show the bill to rectify illegal dumping in 2022 was just over €331,000.

A further €350,000 was spent in 2023 and in the first six months of the year, Coillte’s clean-up costs had already reached €270,000.

Coillte said it takes illegal dumping extremely seriously and it works closely with gardaí and local authorities to combat it.

It said signs, barriers, and CCTV are all used to deter the ditching of waste, particularly at “hotspots across [its] forest estate”.

A log of incidents showed there were 245 reports of illegal dumping since the beginning of 2022, with 50 in the first half of this year alone.

Aside from Co Cork, other areas with a high number of cases were Clare, with 19, Laois, with 18, Tipperary, with 17, and Galway, with 15.

In some counties, there were few reports, but figures can depend as well on how much land Coillte manages in each area.

A litter policy for staff from the forestry agency said incidents needed to be dealt with quickly to avoid locations becoming “blackspots” for dumping.

It said each forest needed to have a security and fire plan and CCTV should be considered for areas deemed of “high risk”.

Asked about illegal dumping, Coillte said it caused serious problems for habitats, species, waters, soils and human health.

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A spokeswoman said: “It can pollute rivers and drinking water sources, damage biodiversity, and is a threat to both the people who live in an area and recreational users.

“It also poses risks to Coillte staff who have to remove this illegally dumped material.”