Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis raised the matter of certain bin companies breaking their agreement on pay by weight with the Government. The Dublin North-West TD raised that matter in Leinster House today, saying afterwards:
“I asked the Taoiseach if the Government had any plans to deal with the breach of the agreement by bin companies in regards to the pay by weight scheme that was agreed last summer. It was clear at the time that waste management companies were abusing the proposed legislation and using it to jack up prices by including a standard charge on all bins as well as a pay by weight charge.
“It is clear this week that certain companies are now disregarding any agreement with Government and starting to charge for black bins over a certain weight.
“In response, the Taoiseach replied that this issue was not discussed at Cabinet Meetings. This is simply amazing as it is an important part of legislation that affects people on a daily basis.
“This issue needs to be addressed immediately and the Minister and Cabinet need to discuss this to stop people being gouged. The Government now need to revisit the whole situation and I firmly believe the only way to have an environmentally sound and fair waste system is put waste management back into the hands of the local authorities.”