As a Dublin City Councillor 2004-2014 and leader of the Fianna Fáil group I led the opposition to abolition of the bin waiver for low income households and privatisation of bin services in Dublin City. The decision was disastrous and cost the city millions in bad debts and clean-up costs for illegal dumping. It has also directly led to the spiralling waste collection costs for homeowners in Dublin Central.
The latest Government directive for “pay by weight” charging for domestic weight collection comes into effect on July 1st 2016. It is alarming that as a consequence waste management companies are increasing charges at an extortionate level for people living in Dublin Central. Having compared previous billing with the new proposed charges indicates as much as a 100% increase for an average family. This means that families will go from paying approximately €200 year to more than €400 per year. This is more than the water charges would have been and equivalent to a full years’ Local Property Tax for some households. This increase will make the service unaffordable for many households and will lead to an increase in illegal dumping and all the costs that go with that. This price increase is entirely contrary to the objectives of “paying by weight” and will mean even the most conscientious of households are going to be hit with a massive financial penalty.
I have raised this concern with Fianna Fáil leader Michéal Martin and Fianna Fáil spokesperson Barry Cowen TD and called on the Minister to intervene on behalf of homeowners to introduce a price freeze until an independent review of charges is conducted and a bin waiver for low income households is re-introduced.