After a seven-hour meeting which included seven adjournments for consultations, Limerick City Council struck a rate an hour before it was due to be dissolved, by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, under his powers to appoint a commissioner to run the city.
Next year's rate of £57.4p in the pound, which was adopted by 12 votes to five, is an increase of 4.98 per cent on last year's commercial rate. The meeting was the sixth for the purpose of striking a rate and came after the Minister, Mr Dempsey, gave the council a final extension of 13 days.
The impasse arose because a majority of the 17 councillors opposed the imposition of a refuse collection and disposal charge or the privatisation of the service.
Agreement was reached finally when the city manager, Mr Brendan Keating, put forward a house waste-management initiative, which he described as "a unique and imaginative scheme".
Mr Keating said householders who participated in composting and recycling would have an opportunity to reduce their waste charges.