Dublin City Council have filled two warehouses with confiscated street furniture from the city's pubs, cafes and restaurants.
The huge number of tables, chairs, barriers and umbrellas - which can be claimed back - were taken from establishments because they didn't have a valid street furniture licence or because they were in breach of guidelines. The unclaimed furniture is being sent to community groups such as men's sheds.
Dublin Live previously revealed DCC launched a crackdown on outdoor dining. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, DCC introduced special street furniture licences which allowed bars, cafes and restaurants put tables and chairs outside their establishments and retrospectively apply for the permit and some claim a "blind eye" was turned to minor breaches.
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A Council official has said 300 Covid permits were issued - all of which are now invalid. Only 64 establishments are currently transitioning their Covid permit to a full street furniture licence.
Council Official Catherine Brophy Walsh told Councillors: "Everyone who had a Covid permit was contacted and at the moment we have 64 live applications for street furniture licenses off the Covid permits. They would be on top of the previous permanent street furniture license that were in store.
"As you said, we have two warehouses full of street furniture currently. What we can use again, we are giving them to our community groups - our men's sheds and any groups who are looking for them. So, we are passing them on to good causes. For those who want to pay to get their furniture back, they have done so.
She added: "There is a proliferation of furniture everywhere all over the streets." The Council is developing a new electronic system to streamline street furniture applications which can take a long time due to the number of departments that need to be consulted.
They hope to clear the backlog of applications by January. DCC has five inspectors visiting bars, cafes and restaurants across the capital checking in the validity of outdoor dining furniture and asking establishments to remove illegitimate furniture.
The DCC official added: "We have five causal trading inspectors out all the time calling into bars, restaurants etc. asking them to remove them. We have worked with DublinTown for make way day last week with regard to just making their members aware that they are out there and we are looking at these issues.
"One of the issue we have at the moment is people breaking their current licences and once we have recorded the breaches. When they come in to renew their licence, we will be looking at that licence application very closely and making sure that they are not in breach of their licence going forward."
The most common breach of the street furniture guidelines is understood to be establishments nailing furniture into ground which also contradicts planning laws.
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