Why are we seeing so many abandoned cars on Irish streets?
Blame the Chinese, or their cheap metal at least. Low-cost steel manufactured in the Far East has flooded Europe in recent years, meaning that domestic scrap metal now sells for less than a third of its value just a few years ago. This means motorists are getting scrappage of just €20 for their used vehicles in some cases, so many owners are electing to just dump them where they like and strip any identifying details rather than go to the effort of hauling them to a licensed drop-off point.
Insurers may also have a case to answer, with models beyond a certain age now effectively undrivable because of the cost of coverage.
As a consequence the burden of destroying unwanted vehicles has fallen on local authorities, with 820 removed and destroyed on the order of councils in 2016, compared with 227 in 2014. The problem is particularly acute in the Greater Dublin Area.
Shouldn’t the Government be doing something about this?
Past governments have set up an end-of-life-vehicles scheme, to make it easier for people to leave cars with a licensed recovery firm, but when questioned about the recent phenomenon of abandoned cars the Department of Local Government deflected questions to the Department of Environment, which said this was a matter for local authorities.
Tightened budgets over the past few years have made it difficult for councils to free up resources to collect these vehicles, although some appear to be trying harder to deter repeat offenders than others. While councils in Louth and Kildare have handed out hundreds of euro in fines to those caught dumping their cars, for example, Dublin City Council issued just one litter fine for almost 650 vehicles dumped on its streets over the past three years. Which was paid, thankfully.
Sure they’re only a load of old clapped-out bangers anyway
For the most part, yes, but there were some surprising entries on the list of models destroyed by councils. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council accounted for most of the high-end motors, including a 2005 Chrysler, a 2005 Audi A4 and a Jaguar with no registration details.
Is this costing a lot to clear up?
In some instances, yes. Louth County Council coughed up well over €10,000 in removal costs over the three years in question, less than half of which was recouped through fines. It was a similar situation in Co Kildare, with more than €5,000 in removal fees paid, and just €650 taken in fines.
Other local authorities, such as Dublin City Council, retain contractors on a cost-neutral basis; the firms keep the scrappage fees for the vehicles they collect. Why there is so much variation in approach by different local authorities is quite another question.
Are we over the worst of it?
Scrap-metal prices are beginning to recover, but it will be a while before this trickles down to scrap-metal dealers. All the while, anecdotal evidence from some local-authority officials points to a continued rise for 2017; some believe the number of abandoned cars will be up again on last year’s figures.