DUBLIN City Council has set aside €1m for the cost of cleaning up after this year's Halloween festivities.

Although it has had to slash costs in other areas, the council has decided not to cut its cleaning budget and is anticipating a busy week ahead.

Gardaí are warning anyone caught in possession of illegal fireworks that they will be prosecuted and the fireworks confiscated. They say that the fireworks imported into the country have not passed safety tests and are potentially lethal.

Despite the gardaí's zero-tolerance approach the Sunday Tribune easily purchased fireworks from a man advertising on the internet.

The man, who called himself James, sold two 'selection boxes' to this newspaper for €100. The boxes, called Emerald Fireworks Garden Selection Box, contain rockets, bangers and other assortments of fireworks.

James said he recently graduated as an engineer but is out of work. He sources the fireworks from England and sometimes as far away as China, although most of his stock comes from Northern Ireland where fireworks are legal to buy.

James has posted ads on message forums and when a potential buyer contacts him he arranges to meet them in Dublin city centre where he sells the fireworks from the back of his car.

He says he has sold a "good amount" of bangers and rockets over the last few weeks.

Gardaí have said that apart from the obvious dangers associated with fireworks, usage this Halloween is also set to put extra pressure on garda resources.

"Apart from the risk of injury, fireworks can cause great distress and annoyance to elderly residents. They can set off intruder alarms, causing unnecessary extra demands on garda resources. They can also cause great distress to family pets and animals.

"Finally, there is always the possibility of outbreaks of fire in property if fireworks such as 'rockets' continue to burn after landing."

Last year, 140 tonnes of material was collected by Dublin City Council on public open spaces and a further 260 tonnes of burnt debris was collected by the city council after Halloween ended.

Dublin Fire Brigade was called out to 800 incidents and the ambulance service received about 500 calls. Moreover, a number of garda and ambulance personnel were also injured upon attending the scene of fires and public-order incidents.

There were 174 fire officers on duty in Dublin in 2008, with the same amount expected to be on duty this year across the city.

To tackle the issue this year, Dublin Fire Brigade has distributed a Halloween safety pack, 'Stay Smart Play Safe', to all primary and post-primary schools. The pack contains leaflets, posters and a safety film made by Dublin Fire Brigade, which has also been posted on video-hosting website YouTube.