Louth County Council has confirmed that it will start using CCTV surveillance cameras in dumping hotspots around the county.

Sinn Féin councillor for Dundalk-Carlingford, Antóin Watters told Agriland dumping in north Louth is a "sporadic" problem.

"It’s really bad for a couple of months, then it moves to another place. It might move to Armagh or Monaghan. I have colleagues in Armagh who have had issues before, then it would come back to the north Louth area," he said.

Watters said that litter wardens on both sides of the border are working together to combat the issue.

“Because of our proximity to the border, the same thing happens with Monaghan, it could be Louth and Monaghan. I have been working to ensure that litter wardens on both sides of the border are working together. That’s something that has been ongoing," he added.

According to the councillor, there will be overt and covert CCTV surveillance in place in different blackspots around the county.

"There’s an area in Edentober that has been a real bad hotspot over the last five, six, seven years for tyre dumping," Watters said.

“Most of the black spots are in rural areas. They’re on quiet roads, well off the beaten track. That’s why people are picking these locations," he added.

Louth County Council said the cameras will be in place later this year.

Watters praised the litter wardens in Co. Louth, but notes that they "cannot be everywhere".

“If they find an event of dumping happening, they’ll be looking at the surveillance after to try and identify the perpetrator. It’s a real bug bearer of mine that people think they can go and do what they want. The amount of stuff that’s been dumped over the years is crazy," he said.

"It’s one of the best areas in the country. We’ve great community groups. We’ve tidy towns groups and there’s teams that clean along the beach.

"It’s very disheartening for them that someone doesn’t care what they’re doing and throws it all over the place," he concluded.