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CCTV CAMERAS HAVE been installed in Dublin’s north inner city to crack down on illegal dumping, but locals aren’t convinced it will stop the ‘disgraceful’ problem.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council (DCC) told The Journal that the CCTV cameras went live this Monday to catch people leaving rubbish in Belvedere Place, Sherrard Street Lower and Summer Street North.
People caught illegally dumping on camera will be subject to a minimum €150 fine, and additional fines and clean-up costs may be applied for cases where the dumping is significant and the culprit has been prosecuted in court.
Speaking to The Journal about the Council’s latest move to stop illegal dumping, a Dublin City Council litter warden who works in the area said he doesn’t think it will change anything.
“The people who litter, they’ll do it anyway, it’s their own choice,” he said.
He said that when he arrives to clean the streets every morning, there are bags of rubbish “everywhere” around North Circular Road, an area he said is a littering blackspot.
“When I’m working, people ask me if they can leave a bag of rubbish on the street, even if I say no, they do it anyway. There’s nothing that I can do to stop them,” he said.
The waste management worker believes the best solution is to include an automatic, nominal fee in tenant’s rent to ensure every home has bin services.
According to Dublin City Council, in 2024, the Waste Management Department received over 13,o00 reports of illegal dumping reports. So far this year, they have received over 9,000 reports.
Gavin, an employee of Dublin Electrical Wholesalers, which is next to North Summer Street, told The Journal that illegal dumping is an “everyday problem” along North Circular Road, with some spots particularly “notorious” for rubbish.
“Seagulls are pulling [the bags] apart, the stuff gets walked over, it gets onto the road, then it gets dragged by vehicles. It is a huge problem,” he said.
He said events in Croke Park improve the situation as more council workers are out to clean up, but he thinks the prevalence of short-term rentals in the area is causing extra rubbish.
The business recently bought lockable wheelie bins as they received reports that their rubbish was contaminated with different litter types, which Gavin thinks is from people throwing trash in the business’ bins.
“It’s a free for all. Now we have lockable bins, so that helps, but it doesn’t stop people throwing rubbish bags beside where our bins are,” he said.
He hopes the CCTV cameras will act as a deterrent to illegal dumping, but doesn’t think it will stop the problem.
“It will help as far as prosecuting people, but if they’re going to do it, they’re going to be clever enough not to look directly at cameras,” he said.
Amy O’Brien, who works at a cafe on North Circular Road, told The Journal that she sees bags of trash and furniture littering Dublin’s north inner city streets every morning on her way to work.
She said the issue is made worse by seagulls who pull food waste out of the bags and spread it across the streets.
“The disrespect people show our city is disgraceful,” she said.
She thinks CCTV might help the issue, but only if illegal dumpers are “tracked down” and prosecuted.
Speaking to The Journal, a local woman said the CCTV camera probably won’t stop the dumping, but she think free bins provided by the council would.
When asked about dumping, she said “sure that’s nothing new around here. I don’t mind it as long as it’s not in front of my place.”
DCC The Journal they are “not in favour of the provision of free bins under any circumstances”.
“The Council have operated for very many years now on the principle of Polluter Pays when it comes to the collection and disposal of waste. Waste Charges are considered to be a utility charge in the same manner as GAS/Electric/Telephone etc and as such they must be borne by the property generating the waste,” it said.
It added that it has no authority to add waste charges to rents and feels this would be an ineffective solution to illegal dumping as it is not only renters who illegally dump waste.
DCC said the process of installing CCTV to stop illegal dumping is ongoing and it will carry out a review of the effectiveness of CCTV in reducing dumping in three to four months.
It said they receive many requests from people to install CCTV cameras to prevent illegal dumping in their area, but it’s not possible to use surveillance in every area.
“CCTV cameras are not suitable or effective in many areas, which is why every request for the installation of CCTV is assessed on a case by case basis and subject to our available resources,” it said.
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