NOISE LEGISLATION:NOISY NEIGHBOURS face on-the-spot fines of €150 under new nuisance-noise legislation to be published this week.
Gardaí will also be given new powers to tackle alarms ringing for a sustained period by disabling them from the outside, although for constitutional reasons they will not be allowed to enter private premises.
Under the heads of the Bill to be published this week, businesses causing excessive noise will be liable to a €1,000 on-the-spot fine, while repeat private offenders face fines of €250.
The Bill will also provide for a fine of €5,000 and daily penalties of €500 for summary offences, and a fine of €500,000 and daily penalties of €5,000 for conviction on indictment. However, this approach is unlikely to be used except in the most serious cases of noise pollution.
Local authorities, who are responsible at present for dealing with cases of noise pollution, will be given “fast-track” powers to take prompt action to deal with burglar alarms, which are the single greatest cause of concern about nuisance noise, according to Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
Primary responsibility will rest with the local authorities, but gardaí will also be given the power to issue fines for noise pollution.
The Bill was approved by Government last week, and will go before the Oireachtas in the autumn.
Mr Gormley, who launched the proposals in Temple Bar yesterday, said there were “real constitutional issues” around the issue of allowing gardaí to access houses where alarms were ringing.
He said the solution proposed in the Bill was to allow gardaí enter the property, as opposed to the premises, by turning off the alarm from outside.
Green TD Ciarán Cuffe, who tabled a private members’ Bill on nuisance noise in 2006, said the legislation would improve quality of life.
“Under the current system council officials are not able to take action immediately to stop sources of noise pollution. They can go through the courts, but this takes weeks.”
The Minister’s photocall was originally scheduled to take place yesterday in a sunny, tourist-filled Temple Bar Square, but was moved at the last moment to nearby Meeting House Square, which was empty. A spokesman for the Greens said the venue was changed because Temple Bar Square was “too noisy”.
