The Government has been accused by the Labour Party of "reintroducing service charges through the back door" as householders face significant new waste disposal fees due to its waste management policy announced this week.
The charges would bite particularly hard in Dublin where no charges for refuse collection apply to residents, according to the Labour spokesman for enterprise and employment, Mr Tommy Broughan.
He called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to abandon a proposal to charge all waste producers based on volume/weight, and to "use his imagination to find alternative sources of finance to pay for his plan".
Labour TDs and councillors in Dublin would oppose any attempt to introduce such service charges, he said.
The plan, as framed, would force local authorities to introduce such charges, Mr Broughan added.
Meanwhile, Mr Dempsey has marked the creation of an innovative partnership between business interests North and South who are committed to finding ways to use packaging waste in a sustainable way. The packaging waste partnership participants are the ESB, Telecom Eireann, Fingal County Council, Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute and the Business Advice Centre in the North.
The Euro-Life Demo project, which is part-funded by the EU's Life Environment Project, will oversee waste management practices at the ESB and Telecom Eireann and develop strategies for minimisation, recycling and reuse of packaging material.
