Mr. Daithí Doolan:

To clarify, when we talk about not wanting to turn the clock back, it is because we know that we cannot simply use a magic wand to bring us back to 2012, with one bin, one van and all the waste going out in it. We have moved a long way and progressed hugely with regard to waste management, environmentalism and the challenge of climate change. We want to be part of meeting that challenge head-on. One way we feel that we can do that is by having one collection service that is absolutely comprehensive. Rather than putting everything into one bin and it being dumped in some landfill in north County Dublin, we want to reduce landfill, increase recycling and make the service simple, accessible, reliable and affordable. The best way to do that, we feel, is to remunicipalise the waste.

I referenced what is going on in Belfast because when you see it, you know it is possible. People there have three or four small bins, each with a different type of waste that comes out to the front yard and is collected and taken away. Here, if people bring their glass and cans to the shop, they are punished, and they have to bring their heavy waste to Ballymount, where they are charged again. If they bring their cans and bottles to the local shop and get 15 cent back on each of them, that 15 cent will be gobbled up by the waste collection service. It is not comprehensive. What we are advocating is an integrated, comprehensive waste management strategy rather than a profit-driven bin service.

That is why I draw out those nuances and reference the rates. It is like apples and oranges in one sense. The point is that people in the North pay their rates and get a comprehensive service. Here, I pay a waste collection service that collects three of my bins. I then have to bring my cans and bottles and put them into the machine in the shop, and I get 15 cent each back. I then have to pay increased charges for my green bins and bring my heavy-duty waste to Ballymount and pay again. That does not happen in other jurisdictions. It does not have to be that way. That is why I am drawing those parallels.