Six litter fines were issued in Tipperary's largest town last year

Only six fines for littering were issued in the Clonmel area in the past year, members of Clonmel Borough District were told at their recent meeting.

Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said that Tipperary County Council needed to adopt a tougher approach to litter.

“We need to up our game,” she stated.

She found it hard to believe that only six fines had been issued in the biggest town in the county.

Michael Moroney, Senior Executive Officer in the Environment and Climate Action Section of Tipperary County Council, agreed that the figure looked low.

However, there was an issue with identifying perpetrators and it could be very difficult to ascertain who was responsible for littering, he stated.

In cases where the council could identify who was responsible, the council was “extremely tough” and had taken cases to court, although it took time on the enforcement side.

Mr Moroney said that the council also required the assistance of communities and the public.

Cllr Ambrose also asked if there were any proposals to expand the scheme for septic tanks. A lot of older people needed to replace them but they couldn’t afford to.

When people checked their eircode they discovered that they weren’t in the designated area where they would qualify for a grant.

She acknowledged the work carried out by tidy towns groups and the council’s outdoor staff.

Mr Moroney said that grants for septic tanks were linked to specific areas where issues had been identified. Currently, the grant could only apply to those areas.

He also told Cllr Ambrose that farm inspections were also linked to areas where there were water quality issues.

A team inspected slurry policies and practices and water run-off.
That programme would be ramped up and there had been twenty inspections in the Clonmel area in the past year.