PLANS FOR the full privatisation of household waste collection services in Fingal, north Dublin, will be outlined to county councillors tonight.
Bin collections have been privatised in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin, which would leave Dublin City Council the only local authority collecting household waste from next year.
The decision of Fingal council management to stop collecting bins follows a consultant’s report which found the service would make a minimum loss of €7 million in 2012.
County manager David O’Connor has written to county councillors saying that it was no longer possible to subsidise the loss-making service. “It is the case that the decision to withdraw from the service is inevitable, as the projected loss of €7 million through the continuance of this service will not form part of budget 2012.”
There would be no compulsory redundancies, Mr O’Connor said, and bin service staff would be redeployed to other areas of the council.
Socialist councillor Ruth Coppinger said the three socialist representatives on the council would oppose the privatisation.
“This is yet another instalment in the race to the bottom as unionised workers are replaced by cheaper labour,” she said. “Waivers for poorer households would inevitably be withdrawn.”
The Irish Waste Management Association said Fingal’s decision would have inevitable consequences for the development of the Poolbeg incinerator.
“The four Dublin local authorities are contractually obliged to send 320,000 tonnes of waste per annum to the Poolbeg incinerator,” a spokesman for the association said. “If they can’t find this level of waste they must pay a penalty.”
