LIMERICK City and County Council is set to crack down on illegal dumping at bring banks around the county with the use of CCTV to identify and prosecute litter bugs.
Cameras will be installed at several areas throughout the city and county the Council have identified as hot spots for illegal dumping.
The Council said the move is an “effort to combat illegal dumping and improve the cleanliness of the city and county”.
The installations come under the Council’s Limerick Litter Management Plan and are part of a broader strategy to “combat illegal dumping and address litter blackspots”.
The Council have said that placement is only in areas “where it is proportionate and justifiable to do so and where there is evidence of a persistent problem with illegal dumping”.
Cameras are to be installed at bring banks in Milford Castletroy, Kilmallock, Croom, Bruree, Dock Road, and Roxboro Shopping Centre.
Further bring bank sites, as well as other locations throughout Limerick, will be added to the list in the coming weeks.
According to the Council, cameras will focus “exclusively on litter prevention and enforcement of waste management laws”.
“It is hoped that additional enforcement at these sites will lead to behavioural change and reduce the need for CCTV surveillance over time,” the Council said.
The new cameras will not be live-monitored, but can be accessed following reported incidents of illegal dumping or in response to “valid data access requests”.
Footage stored on the cameras will be stored securely and retained for 28 days, “unless required for investigation or access requests”, and shared only with authorised Council staff, Gardaí, or upon a valid data subject access request.
Signage making the public aware of the cameras will be installed at each site.
“By implementing this CCTV scheme, LCCC aims to reduce the environmental and economic burden of illegal dumping,” a statement from the Council said.
“The frequent clean-ups and ongoing waste management costs at bring banks are unsustainable, and this initiative is expected to significantly deter offenders while improving the overall cleanliness of these sites.”
The camera installations were made under the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022.
“A new code of practice, published in 2024, for the use of CCTV in Waste and Litter enforcement has allowed the Council to take this action,” the Council said.
