Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This issue is by no means the most important before us, but it is a regular niggle. I have been approached by one of the many groups in my constituency involved in the Tidy Towns competition. In Clondalkin, Palmerstown and Lucan there are active Tidy Towns groups which have done a great deal to improve the public ambiance of our area and I greatly appreciate their work. In other parts of the greater Dublin area various groups, including businesses, have done a great deal to improve the layout of their areas. However, one scourge that affects a great number of places in Dublin and other parts of the country, with which I am not so familiar, is graffiti which undermines the work of the many people who have done so much to deal with the litter problem in Dublin and its environs. It also damages the reputation of the city. The Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, previously held the tourism brief and knows how important it is to present ourselves in the best light. In asking that the graffiti issue be tackled, I am doing something that will be of general benefit to the city and the country as a whole. It costs the four Dublin local authorities €600,000 per year to tackle the problem. This money could be better spent on other things.

Other cities around the world have a problem with graffiti and some have come up with innovative ideas to tackle it. I would appreciate it if this information could be passed on to the relevant Minister, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly. In Chicago the sale of aerosol cans is restricted to those over 18 years and people must provide pictorial evidence of identity and sign for the cans purchased. That would help to tackle the issue, although I assume legislation or by-laws would help to deal with it also. I would be grateful if we could make some moves toward sorting out this problem.

See this speech in context