andMr. MacSharry asked the Minister for Local Government the steps he will take with each local authority to ensure the removal of abandoned cars in towns and villages throughout the country.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Abandoned Cars.
38.
Local authorities have power to deal with the problem mentioned in the Deputy's question. The Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1971 empower a road authority to remove, store and dispose of a vehicle, or part of a vehicle, abandoned on a public road or in a public park. Implementation of the regulations is the responsibility of the Garda and/or the local authority as may be appropriate in particular instances. In addition, the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, enables the planning authority or the Garda to prosecute persons creating "litter" by dumping such items.
Local authorities have from time to time been advised by my Department of their powers to deal with the disposal of abandoned vehicle bodies.
What further steps does the Minister feel are necessary in view of the fact that throughout the country one can find graveyards of old cars and old trucks every few miles along the roads, even on main highways? He must be interested in taking some action to ensure that the local authorities use their authority in this respect in view of the fact that an industry has been set up, aided by State funds and the IDA, to manufacture something from disused cars.
The Deputy has gone some way from his question which dealt with abandoned cars because he is now talking about graveyards.
What is the difference between an abandoned car and a car graveyard?
Order.
An abandoned car is left by somebody who has no further use for it. Car graveyards are created by people who collect those cars and sell car parts to other people. They would be doing a useful service if they were not destroying parts of the countryside. At present there is at least one firm which collects those cars with the co-operation of most local authorities who either take the cars to a central area or pay a sum to those people to have them turned into something useful. There has been a tremendous improvement in this over the last few years but the law allows certain people to retain those graveyards. This is where the members of local authorities, who are planning bodies, can do something about this if they have the desire to do so.