Dublin City Council's Finance Committee will this week consider Fianna Fáil proposals on tackling illegal dumping, littering and illegal signs.

Councillor Paul McAuliffe has persuaded the City Manager to examine if an increase in the number of 'authorised officers' might help to reduce breaches of council bye-laws in these areas.

The Glasnevin-based Councillor explained: "Currently the council does not have the resources to police many of the bye-laws it creates. This means that despite the hard work of some officials, the city has seen increases in illegal dumping, illegal signage on traffic poles, litter black-spots and dog fouling.

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"We literally have a handful of people to enforce these important bye-laws in what is the most densely populated urban area in the country. They simply cannot cover the entire city. The result is that Dublin city residents are forced to put up with litter, dumping and illegal signs far too often. I believe that an increase in the number of officers could help tackle this.

"Every week I receive reports from Dublin residents about illegal signs on traffic poles or properties which have turned into litter black-spots. I believe there creative ways, bearing in mind budgetary constraints, that we can authorise people to issue fines without employing them as full-time employees.

"We need to look to the massive network of community groups in the city or to other agencies like An Post who have a large number of people on the ground to see if we can fund the expansion of authorised officers through less traditional ways."

(CD/JP)