Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I start by thanking the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit for bringing forward this motion. Last January, Deputy Alan Kelly, at the stroke of a pen, introduced SI 24. The rationale for this was that 90% of families and households would pay less to have their bin collected. Fast forward, however, to June 2016 and the truth emerges of what the costs will be and it now transpires that 90% of families and households will, in fact, pay substantially more than they were told.

Let us look at some cases. The first two were raised by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, the deputy leader of our party. She spoke to a woman called Elaine, a mother of three children, who has a chronically ill husband and is in receipt of carer's allowance. The cost of her bin collection service is increasing from €204 to €360 per year. That is a 76% increase. They cannot afford this. Another woman called Marie, who is in her 80s, lives alone and is in receipt of the State pension. Her standing charge is being increased from €50 to €169 per year, an increase of 238%. She has told us that money is so tight that she will have no choice but to either go without food or burn her rubbish illegally. Is there not something obscene about this for a senior citizen?

I have come across other examples in the past number of days, such as a family of six with four children under the age of 12 and one still in nappies. Last year, the flat rate bill with Thorntons was €360 but it gave a discount of 10% for paying online and on time, so the bill came to €324. The family recycles everything they can and all their glass goes to bottle banks. The family used 1,450 kg of black bin waste in 2015. Thorntons shows the weights for the year online if Members want to check this out. If they use the same weights under the new charges from Thorntons, the bill will be €611, an increase of 95%. An old age pensioner living alone, with a garden which he mows on average three times a year, is currently paying €13.45 per month and his bill will go to €24.43 per month under the new Greyhound charges of €3.25 per week standing charge and 23 cent per kilo for the brown bin. His standing charge will go from €69.95 to €169 but he rarely puts out a black bin and if he does, he will pay 35 cent for every kilo, which is a 130% rise. Despite this, the Government has repeatedly said that 87% of households will save money.

We know that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, met recently with some of the providers and the outcome of those talks does not inspire confidence. What the Minister needs to do is to reverse this bad decision. The regulation was introduced at the stroke of a ministerial pen and it could and should be removed at the stroke of a ministerial pen. The Minister should today sign a new statutory instrument to remove this regulation which will cause so much hardship for families. A new statutory instrument would remove the threat of daylight robbery on the part of bin collection services.

While it is clear that the bin companies are taking the opportunity presented by the new legislation to change the standing charges, it is a no-brainer that if one privatises key public services, then the notion of service becomes secondary to the never-ending drive for profit. The Minister must bring forward new legislation, which he is perfectly capable of doing, without further delay. Failing this, we will avail of Seanad Standing Orders which give the Seanad the power to annul a statutory instrument within 21 sitting days of its signing by the Minister. As the Seanad has sat for fewer than 21 days since then, Sinn Féin Senators have submitted a motion to the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad to annul the statutory instrument and regulation.

Either the Minister acts or Sinn Féin Senators will bring forward the motion to ensure the regulation is annulled. If it comes to this, I hope those in Fianna Fáil and others will support the motion. Sitting on their hands is not an option in this case. The Minister is talking tough but that is not an option either. Either the Government acts or we will do so. Under no circumstances, come 1 July, will ordinary people be fleeced in the way bin companies intend.

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