OPPOSITION TDS HAVE warned of ’looming chaos’ and a major health hazard if bins aren’t collected from 18,000 households in Dublin city.
Private company Greyhound have told customers that their rubbish will not be collected this week unless they pay an upfront fee. 18,000 out of 140,000 households in Dublin city are believed to have not yet paid.
Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuiv said there was “huge potential from a health hazard point of view and from an environmental point of view to do enormous damage” and blamed Fine Gael and Labour for problems with the changeover.
He warned of the health issues arising from leaving large amounts of rubbish on the streets, and said it was disingenuous of the government to stand back from the situation in the face of a “serious public health hazard”.
“We’re a month away from St Patrick’s Day and we want our city to be a showcase to the world,” said Ó Cuiv, speaking in the Dáil this morning.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said it it was a matter for the management of Dublin City Council. He called on the company to “exercise flexibility at this point of time in respect of the collection of the waste and in respect of arrangements for payment”.
Gilmore’s comments echoed those of Taoiseach Enda Kenny who yesterday said that “common sense” should apply and urged Dublin City Council and Greyhound to “sit down and sort it out”.
Dublin’s Lord Mayor also criticised the changeover to the privatised bin collection service for the city, calling it a ’shambles’. Andrew Montague blamed new provider Greyhound and Dublin City Council for not allowing adequate time for the preparation of the changeover.
Greyhound took over Dublin city’s waste collection services in January after it won the contract from Dublin City Council.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say