Labour Party Update – Bin Changeover

Labour Party Update – Bin Changeover

As you will already be aware the Dublin City Council bin service was handed over to Greyhound Recycling from the week beginning 16th January.

 The Labour group on the City Council opposed the privatisation of this service, but under the Protection of the Environment Act 2003, which was enacted by Fianna Fail and opposed by the Labour Party in the Dáil at the time, the power of Councillors to control the bin service was removed and given instead to Dublin City Council management.
 All Labour Party representatives on Dublin City Councils have voted three times in the last nine months to oppose this privatisation, but our wishes were ignored by the Council management.

It is now clear that there are significant issues with the handover of the bin service. We have received complaints on a wide range of issues, including the requirement to pay up front, the effective monopoly now enjoyed by Greyhound in Dublin City, and the limited methods of payment available to customers. As your Labour Party representatives in this area we have been working on these issues since they arose with the following results:

• The Labour Party group on Dublin City Council demanded an urgent meeting with the City Manager to discuss the shambles of the bin handover. This meeting took place on Thursday 19th January in Civic Offices.
• On the same day, Greyhound announced that the €100 charge could now be paid in two equal instalments. However, this is only available to those who agree to a direct debit and many other issues relating to the new service still remain.
• The Labour Party group have called a special meeting of Dublin City Council to be held on Monday 23rd January. At this meeting, all complaints and queries we have received will be raised with City Council officials. This meeting is webcasted live from the Dublin City Council website.
• At a national level discussions are ongoing with the Department of Environment in respect of a national waiver scheme.

Please be assured of our continued support on this matter.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD and Councillor Jane Horgan-Jones