Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Recent studies have shown that Dublin is again a dirty city and Cork as well, for that matter. They have not improved. If anything, they have become worse. We have had less visible plastic. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a guy throw a bottle out of the car. He would only have got 15 cent for it, but could not do anything about it, so it ended up in the ditch. We have a situation where half of all visible litter is cigarette butts. People stamp it on the ground thinking that it is plastic or will biodegrade. I even saw a council worker with a handcart do the same thing. I saw a person at an EV charger do it. Presumably, he bought an EV because he thought he was being eco-friendly, but then he put his butt on the ground. People throw butts beside bins.

In Australia, they have robust campaign called "Don't be a Tosser". In South Dublin County Council, I was not allowed to use the term "butt-tosser". They thought it was a little improper. I was asked whether I could use "cigarette butt disposal" instead when tabling a motion on the clár. When I raise the issue of fines, it is parked and passed over to the local authorities. However, the buck stops with the Government.

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