A farmer has called on gardaí and TDs to introduce tougher prosecutions and fines for people found to be illegally dumping on farmland.

Padraig Kehoe, a tillage farmer from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, was the victim of fly-tipping for the third time this year and spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal of his frustration regarding the situation.

“I’d say a few different people are dumping rubbish up our laneway, but I think the latest one is the same person because it is in the exact same place,” Kehoe said.

“About half the rubbish is nappies. No one wants to handle nappies. In fairness to the local council, they cleared the rubbish when it happened before on the road but they won’t take it from the laneway unless we put it in green bags for them.”

Kehoe said that he’s considering installing cameras to catch the people fly-tipping.

He contacted the gardaí regarding the incidents but they told him that it is very difficult to catch and convict people who fly-tip.

Prosecute

“They need to prosecute more people and make the fines higher for the people they do catch,” Kehoe said.

“They need to make examples of a few people to put them off.”