A Councillor is calling for the public to report illegal dumping.
Westmeath county council is introducing drones in an attempt to detect illegal dumping.
It comes as over €4 million of taxpayers’ money was spent clearing illegally dumped waste across rural Ireland last year, with over 630 thousand euro spent cleaning in Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath.
Labour councillor Denis Leonard believes it's difficult to collect evidence of dumping in rural areas resulting in low prosecution rates.
He says it's vital the public report illegal dumping when they see it:
There's a renewed call for stricter penalties for illegal dumping.
Only 8 fines were issued for the offence in the Midlands last year.
Jacqueline Hogge, Investigative Journalist with Irish Country Living, says mountainous areas are especially blighted by illegal dumping.
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