Kilcoyne to raise Castlebar rat problem with HSE

A Castlebar-based county councillor who complained that the county town has been overrun with rats is to raise the issue with the HSE.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who previously said rats were ‘running wild’ in Castlebar, has tabled a question for today’s meeting of the HSE Forum West regarding its role in pest control.

In a written reply, Maria Horkan, Principal Environmental Health Officer, said that the HSE has no pest control service.

Ms Horkan said that complainants living in private rental accommodation, or in properties and lands owned by local authorities, should contact the relevant local authority.

If the complaint refers to defective public drains or sewers, the complainant should be referred to Irish Water.

“The HSE will advise private house holders and property owners on measures to deal with the problem of mice or rats within their property,” she wrote.

“The HSE will advise on both treatment measures and measures to take to maintain the property hygienically and on removing conditions that promote rodent harbourage. The HSE does not provide any treatment and property owners would be advised to consult with an approved pest control company should treatment be warranted.”

Ms Harkin said that the county council ‘should be able to advise on measures they take to maintain the rat population and how they avoid them becoming a problem within a town or any public area’.

“Traditionally the control of Rats in towns /cities and on public land would have been under the remit of the councils. They would have had a baiting programme for public sewers (including maintenance plus repair of drains and manhole covers), control of surface water pipes discharging into a watercourse, maintenance and baiting of breach fronts, canals and Parkland,” she added.

“They also control litter and waste disposal and derelict sites within cities and towns which in turn controls rat activity.”

Local authorities and the EPA also have responsibility for waste management under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the Waste Management Act 1996.

The Waste Management Act imposes a general duty of care on holders of waste, under which a person may not hold, transport, recover or dispose of waste in a manner that causes, or is likely to cause, environmental pollution.

Enforcement actions against illegal waste activity are a matter for the local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) within the Environmental Protection Agency.