COMMENT: Are bin charges the new Irish Water?

WHY do today what you can put off till tomorrow… or next year, even.

Just weeks into the new minority Government’s reign and we are starting to get a picture of what this so-called ‘new politics’ means. It seems to be a case that every single unpopular measure will be kicked down the road until such a time that we have a couple of budgets under our belts.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan alluded to this last week when he admitted he didn’t know how long the current minority arrangement would last. The plan, at least, is that Fianna Fáil will be on board for three budgets before the situation is reviewed. That is, of course, if banana skins can be avoided in the interim.

Early last week, it was looking like the Government had found its new Irish Water in the form of the pay-by-weight bin charges controversy. But Fine Gael, still smarting from the water charges debacle, were anxious to kick this one to touch. So they did exactly what they did with water bills – put the decision off for another time.

To be fair, Housing Minister Simon Coveney was caught between a rock and a hard place as this new bin payment system had been coming down the tracks for some time. For most householders, it was simply a fear of the unknown. Would we be rewarded with reduced bills for managing our waste more sensibly? The truth is, none of us really know.

Now that we’ve been given a one-year stay of execution, the Government and waste management companies can properly engage with the public on what the changeover will mean for us. We can expect to be love bombed with glossy information packs and slick radio and TV advertising campaigns between now and then.

The Government will be hoping that last week’s decision (if it can even be called that) will take the heat out of the situation. But if a week is a long time in politics, then a year is an eternity.

Instead of allaying concerns about bin charges, Fine Gael may have unwittingly given its opponents time to mobilise. This could result in the political nightmare scenario of public protests and campaigns of civil disobedience. 

And in the event of mass non-payment, will this result in a public health hazard with rubbish piling up on our streets and increased illegal dumping?

Rather than diffuse the controversy, I can’t escape the feeling that the Government has simply taken the pin out of the grenade.

t.mccullagh@dublinpeople.com