Vol. 262 No. 9
asked the Minister for Local Government if he is satisfied that there are adequate staffing and procedures available to local authorities for the detection and prosecution of those responsible for roadside dumping; and if he has considered transferring to either the Attorney-General or the Garda Síochána the responsibility for prosecuting those responsible.
153.
asked the Minister for Local Government the present procedures for the detection and prosecution of those responsible for leaving derelict cars on the roadside; and if he has any changes in mind to combat this problem.
I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together.
As I stated in reply to a question by the Deputy on 22nd April, 1971, the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 1964, enable sanitary authorities to take action against a person responsible for dumping matter which is a nuisance or injurious to health and to make by-laws for the prevention of nuisances arising from the deposit of rubbish.
The provisions of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, enable planning authorities or the Garda to take action against persons creating litter by dumping organic matter or rubbish.
Furthermore, where an abandoned vehicle causes danger or obstruction or is illegally parked, the Garda Síochána may prosecute the person who left it there.
These statutes provide a wide range of powers. The problem appears to be one of difficulty in identifying offenders rather than one of deficiency in the law of staffing. As to derelict vehicles in particular, I doubt if it would be appropriate to propose legislation making the last registered owner responsible for the abandonment of such a vehicle, since very often the derelict vehicle had either left the ownership of the last registered owners when it was abandoned or was left in such a condition as to be unidentifiable. A more practical approach is to provide effective powers for the removal of abandoned vehicles, and in this regard the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1971, enable a road authority to remove, store and dispose of a vehicle, which has been abandoned on a public road or in a public car park or which is illegally parked.
Is the Minister aware that the problem referred to in these two questions is becoming increasingly acute in the rural area around the broad area of Dublin city? Has he any idea as to why it is not possible to detect those responsible and has he any suggestion as to how the procedures could be improved?
There is no great point in explaining why there is difficulty in detecting people who abandon cars. It is done furtively, in the dark of night and one cannot expect to have gardaí or officials waiting around to see if somebody is going to dump a vehicle somewhere.
Surely the registered owner can be made responsible?
The registered owner is not necessarily responsible for dumping it. These cars are stripped and have gone out of the possession of the owner altogether. The last legal owner has not got the car registered so that device is not the easiest way.
Is the Minister not aware that practically every day cars are left abandoned on main roads and nobody seems to be responsible for removing them until they are taken away piece by piece by vandals? Is he also aware that some villages are cluttered up with old cars and lorries which have been left there by people, that it is quite easy to find out who owns them, although they may not have been taxed, and that they are a menace to traffic and to children playing around them?
It is not quite so simple. I agree as to the nuisance they cause and the longer they are left there the more offensive they become. I would urge local authorities to avail of the powers I gave them last year to remove these vehicles and I suggest that Deputies should bring their complaints in this matter to the notice of each local authority.
Is the Minister aware that local authorities do not have sufficient staff to enable them to go around the roads doing this work and to pass the buck to them as he proposes is simply not solving the problem? Will he consider undertaking this matter on a national scale?
Certainly not, is my answer to that question. I have been continually asked to give more powers to local authorities and when I do so, I am then asked to interfere with their exercise of them. You cannot have it both ways. I think we did the sensible thing.
Would the Minister not consider that the simple way of doing it would be for the Garda authorities to charge persons who leave vehicles on the roads untaxed? Surely the problem will be solved very quickly because the owners will then remove them.
The difficulty is to prove that the person who leaves the car there is the owner.
It is the fault of the owner anyway.
I would like to see local authorities more active in removing them. There are not that many.
