Madam, - The Minister for the Environment is often quoted on how the proposed pay by weight system for domestic waste will encourage people to recycle; use compost heaps, etc.
Recently, while paying this year's service charge, I decided to ask a few questions which had been bothering me, e.g. What will the charge per kilo be? Is it true that the bin will not be emptied if it is too heavy, and if so, how am I supposed to know what weight is in it? The answers are very interesting. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, fees are yet to be finalised, but indicative figures are as follows:
There will be THREE charges in future, not ONE.
1. There will be a flat rate of €150.00 per annum for the service, whether you use it or not.
2. There will be a fee of €2.00 for each collection.
3. There will be a pay by weight fee of 10 cent per kilo.
The answer to the question "Will the bin be emptied if it is too heavy?" is NO, it will not. The answer to the question "How do I know if it is too heavy, as it will only be weighed when it is on the lorry?" is also very interesting, and is as follows: "The bin man will decide when he tries to move it. If he feels it is too heavy, then he won't bring it to the lorry".
I suggested that as the day goes on, and the bin man gets tired, he is likely to believe that every bin is heavier than when he started the morning wide awake and full of the joys of spring, and the possibility might exist that many bins would remain uncollected. This was met with a deafening silence.
So, Minister, would I be cynical if I were to suggest that that you are being disingenuous when you speak of a pay by weight fee, when, in fact, there will be three fees? Why do you never mention the other two charges? Could it be that you are trying to give the impression that bin charges will be lower if we put less in the bins? Why are we not being told that bins will not be collected if they are too heavy?
It's time to come clean on this. - Yours, etc.,
SEÁN Ó KIERSEY, Blackrock, Co Dublin.