Cllr calls for campaign to stamp out cigarette litter

LOUTH County Council should introduce a campaign to raise awareness of cigarette related litter, particularly cigarette butts, Cllr Oliver Tully has urged.

He said that this causing a major problem for Tidy Towns volunteers and he suggested a the council should implement a countywide awareness campaign with advertisements, posters and leaflets in public houses, bookies and outlets that sell cigarettes. Litter wardens should target areas identified as blackspots and make sure that the owners of commercial properties are aware of their obligations. He also suggested that the council could seek sponsorship from the tobacco industry, particularly Carrolls who had a long association with Dundalk.

Cllr Anne Campbell said that as a smoker, she didn’t disagree with what Cllr Tully was saying but argued that the money needed for such a campaign would have to come from what she called ‘ the inordinate amount of tax which smokers have to pay’ and that the Government should fund any awareness campaign.

Property owners should take responsibility for what’s happening as often smokers have no where to put out their cigarettes, she argued.

She welcomed the new bins provided by Louth County Council which gave smokers somewhere to put out their cigarettes.

Cllr Kevin Callan remarked that ‘nothing slows down a litter machine more that cigarette butts.’ It’s a massive problem,’ he said.