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LAST year, Kerry County Council received 1,042 litter complaints, issued 93 litter fines and six prosecutions were instigated.
At the online meeting of Kerry County Council on Monday, the Council Litter Pollution Report for 2020 was issued to members.
In the Tralee area last year, there were 428 litter offence cases investigated with 44 on the spot fines issued and no convictions.
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The 1,042 investigations were undertaken on foot of complaints received together with the investigation of littered areas identified by the litter wardens during the course of their duties.
93 fines were issued and just 35 were paid last year. In 2019, 939 investigations took place with 114 fines issued and 45 were paid.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 Tidy Towns competition, County Clean-up Day and the annual National Spring Clean but some clean-ups did go ahead.
During 2020 the Council distributed 479 litter pickers and 8,500 bags to volunteers who, together with the wardens, collected almost 116 tonnes of litter/waste.
Dog fouling continues to be an ongoing challenge and Kerry County Council has submitted an application to the 2021 Department of Public Expenditure & Reform Innovation Fund.
If successful, they will roll out a new campaign around the issue of dog fouling and the associated risks.
4,385 tonnes of household waste was deposited at the Council’s five waste facilities at Milltown, Coolcaslagh (Killarney), Kenmare, Dingle and Cahersiveen including 116 tonnes of litter/waste collected by KCC wardens, community groups, volunteers etc
