LITTER thugs pack their household garbage in trash bags small enough to throw it out of their car window without even stopping, a county councilor said.

“To me it’s absolutely disgusting,” said Cllr Martin Ryan at the Cappamore-Kilmallock Municipal District meeting last month.

“This is really anti-social behavior that we have to work on to try to change that behavior, to change the way people think about this type of behavior. We really need to see how we can eradicate this behavior, ”he continued.

Cllr Ryan sent the photos presented to the Leader of the dumping on: the R505 which connects the N24 to Cappamore and to Doon; a local swimming spot on the Blackboy River; and the Killuragh road. But there are hundreds, if not thousands of examples that he and his fellow advisers could give.

Over Easter, mattresses, furniture and pillows were thrown at Abington, Murroe told Cathaoirleach John Egan. Some were actually left on the road, posing a danger to motorists.

Cllr Ryan filed a motion calling on the council in collaboration with law enforcement to develop a pilot project to investigate and detect the prolific dumping of waste on the R505 and in turn, once established, deploy the program to the entire city and county.

In response, the council said it has a dedicated environmental inspector for the area who regularly patrols the R505 and responds to all illegal dumping incidents.

“It is the policy of the board to investigate vigorous enforcement actions in relation to all of these incidents. The council also has a dedicated commercial waste team that will investigate suspected incidents of dumping of commercial waste, i.e. construction and demolition waste regardless of location, and who, likewise way, will initiate enforcement actions where appropriate.

“Our law enforcement efforts also target vehicles and sites used by those engaged in this activity,” the council’s response read.

Cllr Ryan said the response was “poor and very weak”.

“Take the R505 as an example – to say that they are patrolling the R505 is playing a prank on the state of the road. Anyone in the area can confirm the condition and how the road is being handled. I do not accept this answer as being adequate. I think there is a lot more work to be done on detection, ”said Cllr Ryan, who stressed that he was not“ tempting ”council staff who swabbed the R505.

“The local team is doing their job, trying to keep the road in the best possible conditions. It needs to be looked at on a larger scale, ”said Cllr Ryan.

Cllr John Egan said he fully agreed.

“The road from the Croix de Grange to Cappamore is an absolute disgrace. If you travel on Monday morning and Tuesday morning, there are new spills every week. I think the board needs to do more in that direction, ”said Cllr Egan.

Cllr Eddie Ryan said there was a similar situation at Effin.

“The environment section has installed a camera. It was pretty accurate on a stretch of road and they managed to catch people. It could be nipped in the bud with the right help, ”said Cllr Eddie Ryan.

Cllr Mike Donegan said he believed there was a GDPR issue regarding CCTV cameras to catch dumpers. He and Cllr Brigid Teefy praised the work Tidy Towns groups and volunteers do in picking up the trash.

Cllr Teefy also highlighted the recent high-profile dumping lawsuits that the City of Limerick and County Council have successfully brought to court.