Residents of some of Dublin suburbs are seeking compensation from the city council over tree sap damage.
Pat Murphy, from the north Dublin suburb Raheny finds during the summer months when the trees are in leaf, his car becomes covered in sap. The sap, a glue like substance, hardens and becomes almost impossible to remove. He complains that he has had to change his windscreen wipers several times as a result of the problem.
I don’t know what it does to the paint work but if, you know, it’s anything like glue I’m sure it has some affect on the paintwork, it has to.
Many Dublin streets are lined with maple and lime trees. During the spring and summer months, they attract green fly that produce a sticky substance which is dropped onto anything that is below the tree.
Now some residents are looking for compensation for the damage caused by tree sap. Over the past two years Dublin City Council has received six claims from residents over damage caused to their cars. The cases have been taken by residents in Raheny, Glasnevin and Ballsbridge. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has also received some complaints.
Dublin City Council is strongly disputing the claims saying it cannot prevent natural occurrences. City parks superintendent Gerry Barry believes the overall value of the trees has to be weighed against the inconvenience cleaning cars affected by falling sap. On balance,
The trees contribute far more on the positive side than on the negative side.
He suggested residents should be more tolerant of the situation.
The Council has already restricted the planting of species of trees that are prone to exuding sap in newer developments, to prevent the problem occurring.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 January 2008. The reporter is Samantha Libreri.
