Cork city manager Joe Gavin yesterday insisted that the refuse situation in the city was under control. He confirmed that the council has already issued three fine notices for illegal dumping, with more fine notices due in the coming weeks.
He was satisfied that the refuse situation was under control, despite evidence of a small number of cases of people leaving out large numbers of bags of refuse which remain uncollected because they were untagged.
Last week, Cllr Chris O'Leary of the Green Party, along with Cllr Mick Barry, Socialist Party, and Sinn Féin Cllr Jonathan O'Brien and Cllr Annette Spillane, called on Mr Gavin to organise the collection of rubbish which had been uncollected because it was not tagged.
Mr Gavin reiterated yesterday that the council views the leaving of untagged refuse on the streets as littering and he warned anyone leaving out refuse which isn't properly tagged that they face a fine or prosecution for littering.
Mr Gavin confirmed that the council had collected untagged refuse in parts of the city in recent days but stressed it was part of their normal approach to illegal dumping and they would be investigating to establish who put out such waste.
"The amount of illegal dumping has increased - I couldn't quantify it but it has increased - and when illegal dumping takes place, as part of our normal regime, we collect litter and gather evidence to try and find who is responsible so we can fine or prosecute them," he said.
Green Party Cllr Chris O'Leary said that while he did not condone illegal dumping, he believed that the council should collect untagged waste as it was posing a health risk in a number of areas of the city.