Public blamed for rubbish on city beaches
Evening Herald
Rubbish left on Burrow beach.
A local authority has blamed the public for the state of Dublin's beaches -- but also admitted its cleaning services have been reduced.
Fingal County Council called beachgoers to take more responsibility for the rubbish that accumulates at popular swim spots.
In a report to Labour councillor Cian O'Callaghan, officials stated the intensive use of public resources to clean beaches "is entirely avoidable if people were to behave more responsibly towards their fellow citizens".
It added: "It is beyond the capacity of the most well-resourced councils to deal with, for example, behaviour such as deliberately breaking bottles into the sand where children may be playing innocently within a few short hours."
The information was released to Cllr O'Callaghan in response to a question asking officials to detail cutbacks in beach-cleaning services.
Fingal said, in previous years, it used general operatives hired on a temporary basis over the summer season to carry out beach cleaning.
"The beach cleansing schedule is a highly intensive service, where litter was hand picked daily from each beach and the beach machines are used weekly. During this period, additional bins were provided on all beaches.
Pressures
"However, in the current economic climate, with budgetary pressures and a recruitment embargo, it is not possible to provide the same level of cleaning," the council said.
It added: "We have now increased the number of bins provided on beaches and associated emptying rates by stretching and re-allocating manpower to best effect in these high-use times. However, this will reduce services elsewhere."
Following the June Bank Holiday weekend, local authorities and the Department of the Environment were heavily criticised for the amount of rubbish left on Dublin's beaches.
comurphy@herald.ie
- Cormac Murphy
