Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their various questions. I will try to cover as many as I can in my reply. On waste collection, from my experience, which I appreciate might not be everybody's, we have a much better refuse service than we had 20 or 30 years ago. We have black, green and brown bins and higher recycling rates. A lot has been achieved in that regard. Re-municipalisation should be a matter for local authorities. There would be an upfront cost in changing to that system as well as ongoing costs, which would probably have to be met in the form of higher local property tax, higher commercial rates or both. I say to anyone is to put forward the proposal, be honest about it, show what it would cost upfront, what the ongoing costs would be, what the benefits would be, set it out, and make it part of the local election campaign to see whether people want to vote for it.

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