Almost half of all local authorities did not issue fines last year
Cork City Council has issued twelve fines for dog fouling so far this year, of which nine have been paid.
Last year, the local authority issued four fines, three of these have been paid.
In another recent year council handed down two fines, one was paid but it was not possible to prosecute the other because the person who claimed they saw the dog owner failing to clean up refused to attend court.
Cork County council abandoned legal proceedings because witnesses were not willing to attend court in support of their written statements.
A Sunday Times survey has found that almost half of all local councils did not issue a fine for dog fouling last year.
Just 61 penalties were handed out to people who failed to clean up after their pet.
