County council backs proposal for household waste database

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The county council is backing a proposed initiative to tackle illegal dumping. The proposal by Loughrea area councillor Joe Byrne would see an analysis carried out on the number of households which have a contract with a licenced waste collector versus the number of homes registered for Local Property Tax. It comes as illegal dumping persists as a regular problem at several locations across the county. At a meeting of the local authority this week, Ballinasloe area councillor Michael Finnerty raised the issue of what he called ‘underage dumping'. This is when children can be identified from the contents of illegally dumped household waste. However, despite the fact that it's clear the dumping was carried out by the parents and not the children, no action could be taken. Councillor Joe Byrne says his suggestion to link registration with a waste collector and property tax registration could help to clamp down on the ongoing problem.