Offaly County Council outlines successful illegal dumping prosecutions
The County Council has so far in 2026 carried out 15 construction and demolition waste inspections.
THE executive of Offaly County Council outlined a number of its successful illegal dumping prosecutions during its monthly October meeting.
The first case of 2026 occurred in January when the Litter Warden found a significant amount of household and domestic waste at Kingstown, Clonbeale More Birr.
The Warden identified documentation linking the waste to a household in Birr and litter fines were issued based on this evidence.
When the litter fine remained unpaid the case came before Tullamore District Court in September. There was no appearance by the defendant and the case proceeded in his absence. Judge Andrew Cody convicted the defendant and imposed a fine of €500.
A second case of illegal dumping of household waste occurred at Edenderry Power Station in April. There had been six prior complaints relating to previous waste dumping offences by the same offender. The case came before the court in September but there was no appearance by the defendant, therefore Judge Andrew Cody issued a bench warrant.
The Council meeting was also told that the County Council has so far in 2026 carried out 15 construction and demolition waste inspections.
One of these inspections was at a construction site in Tullamore and it was discovered that soil and stone was taken from this site to a site in Portarlington that had neither a waste facility permit nor an Article 27 notification (Article 27 is a submission made to the EPA, which then decides whether the material is a by-product or waste). “The developer put this right straight away,” the Council report said, “and submitted an Article 27 notification to the EPA.”
Another inspection traced soil and stone from a construction site in Edenderry to a site at Mountlucas. The waste material was ending up at an unauthorised site. Following the Council's action, importation of waste to the Mountlucas site has stopped. “Assessment is needed,” continued the Council's report, “to confirm whether the soils are inert, non-hazardous or hazardous.”
In another case during 2026, following complaints from members of the public, the Council stopped a demolition being carried out by a property owner in Killurin near Tullamore. “Two types of asbestos-containing material were found at nine locations on the site, including tiles, roof sheeting, roof slates, piping and floor tiles. We inspected the property several times and engaged with the owner on the safe dismantling and removal of the asbestos waste.”
A long-running complaint about asbestos at a site in Blueball has now been closed. “A registered asbestos removal company was engaged and all asbestos has been removed from the property.”
Finally, The Council also gave an update on the numbers of the various environment complaints made to it during 2026. There have been 74 abandoned vehicle complaints; 38 air pollution complaints; 96 complaints relating to Control of Dogs and 22 relating to Control of Horses. There have been 595 Litter Control complaints and 23 Noise Pollution matters.