O’Connor very concerned as Tallaght one of only two towns branded ‘Litter Blackspot’

Dublin South West T.D. Charlie O’Connor has said he is “extremely concerned to hear that Tallaght has been branded a litter blackspot.”  Tallaght and Portlaoise are only two towns listed as litter blackspots in the entire country in the latest Litter League of 53 towns and cities from Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).

“This is very worrying for Tallaght and will be very disappointing to residents and businesses across Tallaght.  I’m really concerned that Tallaght is at the bottom of the Irish Business Against Litter league published today,” said Deputy O’Connor.

“What makes this news more troubling is that it shows Tallaght has been slipping down the litter league consistently for the last 18 months.  At the end of 2008 Tallaght was found to be litter free to normal European levels yet six months later it was found to be ‘littered’; ‘seriously littered’ by the end of 2009; now Tallaght is a litter blackspot.”

“I am calling on South Dublin County Council to immediately establish a special litter taskforce for Tallaght which would include residents, business representatives and officials from the council.  The sole priority of this taskforce should be to restore Tallaght’s litter free status.”

“I want to encourage residents to re-double their efforts to tackle littering and to report littering to the council.  I also support IBAL’s Litter Twitter campaign which is an imaginative idea and will enable South Dublin County Council to be alerted to areas around Tallaght that are suffering from litter,” concluded Deputy O’Connor.