Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like all my colleagues, I call for the remunicipalisation of bin services in our city because this is one of the issues raised most regularly with us on the doorsteps. While I might disagree with some of the narrative about how we got here, I do not disagree that the way forward is certainly not clear. The Taoiseach has indicated that this is within the power of the local authorities. With a very weak local government system, though, we know this is less likely to happen.

We had a unique position in Dublin City Council in that there was no privatisation. Effectively, the council withdrew from the market and sold its list to one provider, without the permission of the people on that list, by the way. It is clear here that the local authorities have the ability to go back into the market, but this should be done with regulation and with the support of the Department.

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