No more bins will be added to busy areas of the city — because of the fear that they will attract household rubbish.

Galway City Council say they do not have the required staff to empty bins at every location and do not plan to install any new ones.

Sharon Connolly, Senior Engineer in the Council’s Recreation and Amenity Department, said they were instead encouraging the pubic to adopt a ‘leave no trace’ approach and take their waste with them.

Meanwhile the Council is to employ a new Waste Enforcement Officer, who will be tasked with stamping out dumping and other illegal waste activity in the city.

The role will include gathering evidence to bring prosecutions before the courts.

The prevalence of people illegally dumping their household waste in public bins has sparked the decision not to provide any more such bins in public places like South Park, Senior Engineer Sharon Connolly told city councillors.

She pointed out how one council official had seen herself how somebody had left two bags of household rubbish at a bin on Father Griffin Road at the crack of dawn.

Ms Connolly was responding to compaints aired at a meeting of representatives sitting in the City Central Ward about the lack of bins in South Park.

Leas Cathaoirleach of the area committee, John McDonagh (Lab), said that the ones that were there were overflowing. It was leading to rubbish being left into the private bins of residents.

There are also no plans to remove derelict boats dumped in the Claddagh, the meeting was told.

This issue too was raised by Cllr McDonagh, who said that the land where the boats were left to rot appeared to be owned by Galway City Council because there were signs erected there warning that jet skis were banned.

Cllr Mike Cubbard (Ind) said the issue of derelict boats had been repeatedly raised at meetings for years.

“It’s a health hazard for tourists, kids climbing on the boat to get a picture. Are we saying it’s not our land? If there’s an injury, it’s the City Council’s door they’ll knock on.”

Ms  Connolly told councillors that it was very difficult to establish who owned the boats and there were several bodies in charge of the waterways, including Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees, Waterways Ireland and the Council.

It was not a straightforward exercise to remove the boats, she said.

ng such cases in court”.