Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

One could say a lot about the events of the last week. One thing one could say is that it has been a shambles from the point of view of the Government. The Minister, who is charged with responsibility for the housing emergency and who should be devoting every minute of every day to addressing it, has had to put it on the back burner and run around trying to sort out a crisis in respect of bins that is of his party and Government's making.

The last week has also been interesting in that it has revealed who this Government and previous Governments have allowed to take control of the vital bin service industry. These are companies who were prepared to ruthlessly exploit the opportunity offered by the opening of the pay-by-weight window to double prices in some cases and treble them in others and in doing so, to hurt the old, the sick and those on low incomes. If the Government and the Minister attempt tonight to offer a version of "move along now, nothing to see", it will not wash because these events show the need to open up a debate about what is the best way to organise waste services in this State. Something is clearly very wrong with the way they are operating at the moment and change is needed but what change?

The Government is operating a crazy model of privatisation. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other country in Europe, apart from Poland, that organises its waste services the way they are organised in this country. It is a model that was consciously chosen by Fine Gael in alliance with Labour in the last Government. Yesterday's report in The Irish Timesshowed that this was consciously chosen in 2011 when preplanning was taking place for the introduction of pay by weight. At that time, the Government considered and weighed two alternatives. The other alternative was also a privatisation model but one with a greater element of State regulation. It would have meant local authorities having a de factolicence with a competition whereby the service would be franchised out to one operator in a local authority area. That is the model that is used in most European countries. The Irish Timessaid that in Finland, it produced savings for consumers of up 40%. Fine Gael consciously rejected that model. According to reports, it did so after being lobbied by the Irish Waste Management Association.

The former Minister, Phil Hogan, as well as being Minister for water charges was Minister for introducing this crazy model of privatisation. The Taoiseach hinted, in his contribution in the House today, that he might consider going for an alternative model along the lines sketched out there with regard to the local authorities but it is too late for that now. The bin service operators, who are known for having trampled on workers' rights and for having ripped up waiver schemes, have revealed themselves to a greater extent than ever before as ruthless profiteers who are probably operating a cartel. It begs the question as to why on earth the Government would allow companies like this maintain control over this vital service in the State. It would be far better to reverse the privatisation programme entirely, give control of bin services back to the local authorities and scratch the bin charges altogether. The Minister would no doubt ask where we would get the money to finance this. There would be very significant savings to be made on the bill picked up by the taxpayer every year for cleaning up illegal dumping. When I was a member of Cork City Council, I was told by senior officials in the environment department that there was a more than tenfold increase in the level of illegal dumping at the time that charges were introduced. This is a hidden cost of privatisation and of bin charges and a form of corporate welfare. It is money which would make a significant contribution towards a publicly owned bin service run by the local authorities.

I will focus in my concluding remarks on the issue of wages and conditions in the industry. These workers provide a vital service in society. If bins were not lifted for one week or two weeks, one would see just how vital that work is. It is a story of capitalism, red in tooth and claw and it is not a pretty picture. The average work week for many workers in this industry is 50 to 60 hours a week and it is not unknown for some to work 70 hours a week. After tax, many drivers bring home less than €400 a week and in the case of many operators not much more than €300. A large percentage of the workforce does not receive overtime, sick pay, holiday pay and is organised through agencies. A reasonably fit worker should be able to move 600 to 700 bins in a ten-hour day but workers are being asked to move double that - 1,400 bins a day. It is not possible to do that pushing one bin at a time, which is best practice, so two bins at a time is what is done. There are significant health and safety implications, particularly towards the end of a shift because people are tired, particularly in two-man crews which should be three-man crews. As a result, injury is common and death is not unknown. A lot of this work is put on the shoulders of immigrant workers. Already this year, there have probably been tens of thousands of workers farmed out to the industry through the agencies. Many of the workers last in the job for two, three or four weeks. They cannot maintain it for much longer than that, so there is a huge churn. The Minister met the Irish Waste Management Association but he would do well to meet the workers who work in the trade. If he listened to them, it might open his eyes to the real scandal that is going on in this industry in terms of wages and conditions, which is something that needs to be seriously addressed.

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