Scrapyards are just somewhere cars go to die… they can be very useful, if you can put up with the trekking around to find the replacement part you need. I have to confess… I could spend all day in the junkers’ yard finding little treasures but The Irish Times has made a worrying report recently:
Local authorities have been urged by the Office of Environmental Enforcement to use innovative means – including the hiring of helicopters – to seek out unauthorised vehicle scrappers, who can face fines of up to €15 million as well as jail sentences of up to 10 years.
The move follows a successful operation undertaken by Cork County Council. The local authority used a helicopter to identify 60 unauthorised car scrapyards, many of which were not visible from local roads and which were subsequently inspected and served with warning notices by the council.
Following the Cork County Council initiative, some 15 closed down, nine are in the process of closing down, and nine have applied or are in the process of regularising their situation.
Details of the crackdown were provided at a conference of the State’s environmental agencies, including local authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Environmental Enforcement and gardaí, which took place in Wexford last week.
