Undercover dog poo patrols are planned in Cork city, as part of a new campaign to tackle dog fouling there.
Litter wardens from Cork City Council will report for duty in civilian clothes to carry out out-of-hours enforcement in areas of the city which have been identified as dog-fouling blackspots.
David Joyce the the director of operations for the city council.
He told Newstalk Breakfast the pilot scheme will be run for a number of nights.
"As part of the Lord Mayor's 'Keep Cork Clean' initiatives, we're piloting some undercover work in relation to tackling dog fouling, particularly in recreational facilities and other areas across the city.
"Our litter wardens are going to go out and undertake these patrols, so we're trying this now as a pilot for a number of nights to see if there's any impact if they go out outside uniform, outside of normal working hours".
He said ideally they would not need such measures.
"Dog fouling is always an issues across the city for the last number of years.
"My goal is not to be out issuing fines for dog fouling, or for litter offences, for that matter.
"My goal is for Cork to be a clean city - my preference is that I'm not out issuing fines, because there's no fines to be issued because people are compliant and respect their city.
"But unfortunately at this point in time people don't: a lot of people do, the vast majority do, but there's a minority who don't.
"And I need to tackle that, I need to ensure that we make the city as clean as possible for citizens and communities and businesses across the city".
Other parts of the country have recently also suggested new ways to tackle the problem.
Limerick Councillor Jerome Scanlan has said a new by-law could see it compulsory for poo bags to be attached to dog leads when they are being taken for a walk.
Back in March he said while signs from the council have helped, dog wardens are going one step further.
"The dog warden in a lot of cases now actually enters into conversation with the walker and just enquiries if they're carrying a poo bag.
"And if they're not, they're reminded of their responsibility and given a bag".
These are paid for by the local council, as Councillor Scanlan explained.
"We want to clean up the footpaths and it's cheaper [to] give out bags and see the footpaths maintained well, rather than employ people to clean the footpaths".
