Some scrap gold dealers little more than glorified fences, Cllr claims at JPC meeting

By TONY GALVIN A CALL has been made for stricter regulation of the scrap-gold trade because of concerns that some outlets operating on a â€Ëœno questions asked' basis may be providing ready cash for stolen goods. The call was made at the Co Galway Joint Policing Committee on Monday when concerns over the regulation of the scrap-metal industry were also raised. The meeting agreed that all gold and scrap-metal dealers should be registered and should have to take responsibility for the items they take in. [private] It was suggested that some cash-for-gold operations were encouraging theft of jewellery from homes by burglars who knew they could dispose of stolen items without any questions being asked. One member of the JPC said legitimate traders would have nothing to fear from proper regulations but it was long past time that the cowboys operating outside the law were weeded out and stopped. 'They are little more than glorified fences,' Cllr Tom McHugh said. Chief Supt Donal O Cualáin said Gardai were well aware of the issues being raised and were always interested in hearing of reports of stolen property. In the case of scrap metal, while the Gardai would not like to discourage the collection of legitimate scrap, when it came to taking cables off poles for copper or stealing manhole covers for scrap, it became a problem for everyone, he added. Cllr Jimmy McClearn said it was time to regulate both the gold and scrap-metal industries and legislation should be introduced to make it more difficult for unscrupulous merchants to operate. 'These people know as well as you and I that there's not a chance of many of those bringing in gold and scrap being the legitimate owners or having any legitimate use for some of the materials they sell. This is quite blatant,' he said. Cllr Tom McHugh said he knew of one unfinished housing estate where 14 manhole covers had been stolen. He said this not only meant a significant risk for people walking or working in this area but it also raised the question of how easy it was to sell on these obviously new covers as scrap metal. 'Those who are involved in collecting scrap metal are not short of ideas. The more weight, the more money in their pockets. We have to have some accountability from those buying scrap to ensure blatant theft is not being encouraged. One councillor said scrap thieves were becoming so blatant that there was now an ad up on DoneDeal.ie  offering €4 for empty beer kegs. Cllr Tim Broderick, himself a publican, said this could only be seen as incitement to commit theft. On top of this, he protested, the issue was becoming such a problem that Diageo were trying to put the cost of the problem back on the publicans. It was agreed that Deputy Sean Kyne would bring these concerns to the attention of the Minister of Justice. [/private]