1,408 reports of illegally dumped litter and waste were received by Kerry County Council last year.
The council issued 93 fines last year, while six prosecutions were initiated for dumping litter and a further five were initiated for dumping waste during 2020.
The figures were presented at the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council following a motion from Sinn Féin councillor Cathal Foley.
Cllr Cathal Foley sought figures for the amount of fines issued for illegal dumping, unauthorised waste collection, dog fouling, the control of dogs, restricted dog breeds in public without a muzzle and for the breach of beach bye laws.
Of the 1,408 reports for illegal dumping of waste and litter last year, 522 were in Tralee, 224 were in Killarney and 181 of them related to Listowel; a further 204 were for Kenmare and the Castleisland Corca Dhuibhne MD had 277 reports.
In relation to unauthorised waste collection, 20 reports were received by the council; the highest number of these (7) related to the Kenmare MD. Listowel had five reports, four related to Killarney, Tralee had three and the Castleisland Corca Dhuibhne MD had just one report.
There were no prosecutions initiated for unauthorised waste collection in 2020.
21 fines were issued for the breach of beach bye laws.
Furthermore, there were no fines issued or prosecutions initiated for dog fouling last year, however, there were 24 fines issued relating to the control of dogs and five fines were issued relating to muzzling of dogs during 2020.
Director of Services with the council John Breen stated it's a societal issue, adding they were seeing an increase in reports. He says there's no excuse for it as there are plenty of opportunities to dispose of litter.
