South Dublin councillors vote to review waste system

Gabija Gataveckaite

COUNCILLORS at South Dublin County Council have voted in favour of a review of the waste collection system.

Currently, the waste collection system is privatised and households must have contracts with private waste collection companies in order to dispose of their rubbish.

If the system is reviewed and the collection system is taken out of privatisation, householders may have to purchase bin tags from local supermarkets and attach these to their rubbish bins when leaving them out for collection on the street.

Tallaght-Central Cllr Mick Duff (Ind) voted in favour of the motion. Speaking to Southside People, he said that when the system was privatised in 2011, the householder’s ability to pay was not taken into account.

“I honestly believe that since we privatised, when the council was encouraged to make that decision, it was high handed and didn’t take into account people’s ability to pay,” he said.

“If the old system comes back in, people with financial difficulties would get a waiver,” he added.

“People today would be glad to see it done by a local authority,” he added.

In February, it was revealed that the National Environment Complaints Line received over 500 calls about littering in the area, with the majority of calls concerning South Dublin.

Cllr Duff explained that concerns were raised that ‘fly tipping’, or illegal dumping, would increase if the review took place.

“But I can’t see it getting any worse than it already is,” he pointed out.

“There are people who take black bags full of rubbish from other people that doesn’t go to landfill, it gets dumped in parks or mountains or rivers,” he claimed.

He added that the costs of private companies were especially of concern to elderly people.

“For senior citizens, some of them aren’t too sure what they’re currently paying using the private companies, as money comes out of their account,” he added. “We had a good service and it should be brought back.”

However, Cllr Ronan McMahon voted against the motion.

“The waste collection system does need a review but it should be kept in private hands,” he argued.

At the vote, SDCC management warned councillors that the cost of a waste collection system run by the council would be high.

“The council cannot afford it, the cost couldn’t be sustained,” Cllr McMahon insisted.

Cllr McMahon said that instead, private waste companies should be allocated certain areas of South Dublin at certain times to avoid several trucks visiting the same streets.