Rentokil has recorded a 35% increase in callouts to deal with pests in the Republic of Ireland between March and June 2021, with Dublin accounting for a quarter of the callouts.
The company said that the closure of restaurants and resulting decreased levels of food waste during the first half of the year contributed to high callout levels, with rodents venturing further afield in search of food sources.
Dublin accounted for 25% of the callouts, followed by Cork (14%), Galway (10%), Tipperary (6%) and Meath (5%).
Richard Faulkner, Rentokil’s advanced technical field consultant, said: “As restrictions are lifted and businesses begin to gradually re-open, we would encourage owners and employees to be mindful of the presence of rodents on their premises.
“Rodents will likely have made homes in some of the buildings that lay vacant over the past few months and as a result, we expect callout numbers to deal with the pests to remain at a high level.”