Main pic: The invasive Japanese Knotweed.
Donegal County Council has spent more than €530,000 tackling invasive plants management in recent years.
According to The Journal Investigates, the issue cost the local authority €533,000 between July 2020 to August 2024. Of this figure, €318,932 came from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through grants such as the Local Biodiversity Action Fund.
However, the balance came from the council’s own coffers.
Invasive species have devastating consequences on the environment, displacing and replacing native species and damaging ecosystems. They also cause damage to the road infrastructure by growing up through the tar and can affect other structures.
Nationally, more than €8.5 million was spent across all councils during the same period.
The top three spending councils over those four years were Mayo, Cork and Meath County Councils, with total spends of approximately €1.28m, €950k and €814k, respectively.
Next up were Galway and Fingal County Councils, with spends of around €700k
and €650k each.
Read the full report on www.thejournal.ie
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