Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

I thank Deputy Gilmore for introducing this straightforward motion to the House, which would allow for a waiver scheme for people who cannot afford to pay waiver charges. I hold the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, in fairly high regard. However, his speech last night was the most dishonest speech I have heard in this House for a long time. His Government introduced legislation that removed from councillors the right to make charges at local level and gave it to county managers. Yet the Minister berated councillors in different councils for not kicking up against the charges levied by managers when he knew that the law introduced by his Government prevented them from doing so.

There is a very wide acceptance among the public and in my party of the principle that the polluter should pay and that there should be a reasonable charge. The Minister said that the charge must meet the full cost, which is also part of the law that his Government passed. The county manager is also bound to have charges that will meet the full cost and the councillors are prevented by law from interfering with that. I do not want to hear any more nonsense from the Minister on that matter. Unelected and unaccountable county managers, who are well organised nationally, are effectively setting policy for this country at that level. The last group of people that had that type of unelected power were Russian commissars and they are long gone by the board. This Government transfers more and more power from the elected representatives to these county managers every day of the week.

If the charges in my constituency were proportionally related to income, and given that old age pensioners living alone in Naas have to pay €350, then the county manager would have to pay €4,000 per annum. However, the county manager sets the charges, so he pays the same as an old age pensioner living alone. The elected majority of councillors in Naas, made up principally of Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats and a few so-called Independents from the Fianna Fáil gene pool, privatised the refuse collection in 1998. They sold off the refuse lorries, made the workers redundant and left the citizens of Naas to the tender mercies of largely unregulated private sector operatives. One of these cowboys, and I use the word advisedly, subsequently served a jail sentence for illegally dumping rubbish that he collected in Naas and dumped in County Wicklow. Despite the best efforts of my colleagues, Councillors Pat McCarthy and Paddy McNamara, the old scheme of waivers was abolished by the same motley crew of Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats and Independents. That situation has continued to this day.

Who are the citizens affected by this decision and how are they affected? An old age pensioner on a non-contributory pension of €150 per week must pay €350 in Naas or he will receive no service. If he does not pay it, he must explain to the authorities why he will not do so and where he has put his rubbish. He will get no waiver as no waiver scheme exists. A widow with two children on €194 per week in Naas town must also pay €350 and she will get no waiver. A disabled person on €134 must pay €350 to get his or her bin collected in Naas town and that person will not get a waiver. A blind person on €134 per week must pay €350 and that person will not get a waiver. A person on carer's allowance of €139 per week will pay €350 in Naas town and no waiver is available. For the long term unemployed on €134 per week, the charge is still €350 and no waiver is available in Naas town. However, for a county manager on €2,000 per week, the charge is still €350 and the manager will get a discount for early payment and a tax credit if he pays exactly the same.

Fianna Fáil, the Progressive Democrats and like minded Independents do not have a majority in Kildare, outside of Naas. In the rest of Kildare, a waiver scheme exists to allow free service to all the categories that I have mentioned. Thanks to Councillor Paddy McNamara and his colleagues, the battle to retain the waiver of refuse charges has again been won this year in the rest of the county. In Sallins, Kill, Clane, Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip and Kilcock, all the categories of deserving and needy families effectively enjoy a free refuse collection service, as they should. I congratulate Councillor McNamara and his colleagues for ensuring that senior citizens and others in these areas are treated with justice and fairness. In Naas, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats sold out the old people to their sacred cow of privatisation while pensioners and other deserving families are penalised by paying the same rate as the county manager. Tonight's motion will make the case for these people in Naas and in other areas that have been described by other Deputies. It must be done and it must be done in this Parliament.

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