It has emerged that there is a legal anomaly preventing county councils prosecuting those who dump rubbish illegally on farms.
In a Dáil debate on defamation laws in Ireland, the Galway West TD Noel Grealish said that illegal dumping has gone completely out of control “all over the country” in the past few years.
He added that a ridiculous situation whereby a person caught on CCTV cameras in the act of dumping illegally cannot be brought to court on the basis of that evidence.
Farmers, local communities and local authorities are often forced to clean up rubbish at huge cost and as a result calls have been made for changes to be made to the laws as councils are being prevented from using CCTV footage to prosecute people because of a ruling by the Data Protection Commissioner.
Kathleen Henry is Sligo IFA Chairperson; she says the dumping of rubbish on farms is a major issue in the North West.
