Cork City Council is spending more than €4.5 million every year cleaning up litter, the equivalent of almost €40 for every person living in the city, according to figures released yesterday.
But despite the heavy investment in the removal of 6,000 tonnes of litter per year, serious problems remain in the city, which takes on the mantle of European Capital of Culture in 2005, says a review of the council's litter management plan.
The Lord Mayor, Cllr John Kelleher, warned yesterday that the abiding impression of those visiting Cork as European Capital of Culture should not be one of a city strewn with litter.
His comments follow the publication of a litter management plan review by Cork City Council. It aims to give new impetus to the progress achieved in reducing the city's litter problem and outlines a series of new enforcement and educational measures. Among these are publication of the names of those prosecuted for littering, a programme of school visits and the prosecution of people who place flyers on car windscreens.