Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

If the Minister has followed the news, he will conclude, as I have, that the transference of household waste collection from Dublin City Council to Greyhound has been utterly shambolic from start to finish. My constituency offices, in common with those of other elected representatives across the city, are inundated with calls from citizens who in many cases have had no contact either from Dublin City Council or from Greyhound concerning the transfer of services.

The situation has now deteriorated even further because we have discovered that, from next Thursday, waste collections from 18,000 homes will not be made. The Minister may or may not be aware that the issue of illegal dumping is a scourge across the city of Dublin, but particularly in inner city areas. The prospect that rubbish will not be collected from 18,000 homes raises not just a problem for the households concerned but also for public health and environmental protection issues of a most serious nature.

I want to know what the Minister proposes to do about this. So far, the Government has pointed the finger at Dublin City Council saying it is up to that local authority to sort out this. We are clearly in a crisis and it falls to the Minister to address the issue. Unsurprisingly, Greyhound acts in the manner of a private company and wishes to be paid for its services. The Minister will know that for many low and middle-income families the additional burden of a €100 charge for waste collection is a bridge too far. The programme for Government promised a fair and comprehensive waiver system for low-income families but the Minister has not yet introduced such a system. What does the Minister propose to do in respect of the 18,000 homes whose waste will not be collected? What does he intend to do to extend a fair and comprehensive waiver system for low-income families, which was promised less than a year ago?

See this speech in context