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

The Minister of State has crystallised the argument. He said there is nothing to stop Dublin City Council or any other local authority from re-entering the market. Then, he produced a litany of reasons it should not happen. The officials in all our local authorities hear this. They hear the Custom House saying why this cannot happen rather than why it can. We should have more devolved local democracy. We should allow local authorities to make these decisions. They should be decided locally. For more than 200 years Dublin City Council collected the bins. It decided to withdraw that service and it should be empowered to return it.

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