Hidden CCTV cameras set to be used in litter 'blackspots' around Cork in bid to stem illegal dumping

Councillors asked for covert CCTV to be used following a recent report which detailed how contractors working for the local authority recently picked up 580 big black bags of litter along a section of the N20 Cork-Limerick road

Cork councillors have demanded 'a get-tough policy' if people are caught dumping and want to name and shame culprits. File picture

Covert cameras look set to be deployed soon in known "blackspots" in Co Cork in an effort to stem an avalanche of illegal dumping.

A senior council official said it was establishing "an oversight body", which would allow it to operate the cameras under a code of practice which satisfies directions from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner for their use.

Councillors have welcomed the news but demanded "a get-tough policy" if people are caught doing this. They want it to include naming and shaming culprits.

Councillors asked for covert CCTV to be used following a recent report which detailed how contractors working for the local authority recently picked up 580 big black bags of litter, mattresses and old tyres which had been dumped along a section of the N20 Cork-Limerick road between between Grenagh and the Ballybeg Bends near Buttevant. It worked out as 23 bags per kilometre.

Independent councillor Peter O’Donoghue specifically proposed a motion at the council’s Northern Division meeting aimed at installing CCTV in know dumping "blackspots". He said illegal dumping was escalating everywhere.

He said he recently volunteered for a litter pick in Kilworth and discovered “a mini dump”, with up to 100 bags of rubbish. 

The council had previously used some covert cameras in the region until the Data Commissioner stopped it for legal reasons.

However, a government act in 2022 amended this, providing that local authorities develop a code of practice to govern their use.

Seamus de Faoite, acting head of the council’s planning and environment directorate, said it was finalising the establishment of the oversight body, which would allow it to deploy covert CCTV cameras.

“Going forward, the use of CCTV will be decided on a case-by-case basis where the history of the location and the probability of success are central,” he said.

Independent councillor William O’Leary said CCTV cameras needed to be moved around constantly because those dumping bags full of rubbish could catch on quickly and move to different locations.

“We're dealing here with really dysfunctional people and will have to be severe with those people we catch,” Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson added.

She and other councillors said their litter wardens were doing their best to identify culprits, but perpetrators rarely leave any evidence in the bags they dump which would identify them, such as letters and bills.

North Cork divisional manager Niall Healy warned while serious illegal dumping in some areas may be addressed by the use of CCTV, fly-tipping from cars “is notoriously difficult to address".