Increase in fine for littering but louts walk free42pc of litterbugs escape conviction
LITTER fines went up from yesterday, but most people won't be paying them.
The chances of being convicted in court for littering is practically zilch.
The on-the-spot litter fine was increased from €125 to €150.
Environment Minister John Gormley said he always felt very strongly about litter and wanted to do all he can to tackle the problem.
He said: "Litter is the most visible affront to the kind of environment most people want to see and live in. In order to send out a clear message to all members of society that litter pollution can simply not be tolerated, I have increased the on-the-spot fine.
"The litter fine increase should serve as a stronger deterrent to those who persist in littering and strengthen the hands of the local authorities in enforcing our Litter Pollution Acts," he added.
But the Irish Independent has discovered that local authorities are failing miserably to combat litter.
An astonishing 42pc of litter fines, some 11,332 of the total issued over a six-month period, were struck out.
This is at a time when local authorities are spending €100m a year trying to fight litter.
Figures from the minister's department indicate that less than half (12,521) of the litter fines issued in the latter half of 2006 were paid, which equates to only 1.5 litter fines issued per local authority per day.
And of the 2,668 litter prosecutions, only a small percentage (557) were convicted.
In Dublin city, Mr Gormley's home town, a total of 263 litter prosecutions were taken, but only 13 resulted in convictions. And out of 3,937 on the spot fines issued, a paltry 1,656 were paid. The remainder of the litterbugs got off scot free. The situation is just as bad around the country.
In Waterford city, five prosecutions were taken and none succeeded.
In Cork city just 14 of the 134 prosecutions were successful and only 246 of the 521 litter louts hit with on-the-spot fines paid up.
In Galway only 37 out of 159 prosecutions succeeded and just 192 of the 383 on-the-spot offenders paid.
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The official explanation is that many of those caught red-handed discarding food wrappers and cigarette butts simply give false names and addresses to litter wardens.
Tom Kavanagh, chairperson of the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) bluntly says: "Litter fine enforcement is just not happening in Ireland.
"With millions of pieces of litter dropped illegally per week, and only 1.5 fines issued per day per local authority, this is a very small amount. many of those fines resulted in nothing more than a piece of paper sent to the polluter," he adds.
Local authorities spent almost €100m on combating litter in 2006. Over €6m has been spent on anti-litter awareness.
