Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

This Thursday, workers in Bord na Móna Recycling, the country’s only remaining publicly owned domestic waste collection service, will go on strike. The company's recycling arm is being sold off to a privately owned company called KWD Recycling. This State sell-off not only jeopardises workers' terms and conditions, but also makes a mockery of the Government's consultation on reform of Ireland’s approach to waste management. If the Government is open to changing the system, why on earth would it sell off the last publicly owned body involved in the sector?

The privatised approach has not worked; it is not fit for purpose. It has hampered efficiency, driven up emissions and exacerbated local traffic congestion, and prices keep going up. I see at first hand how badly served this city is, including my own constituency of Dublin Central, by this approach. Last year, Dublin City Council spent €71 million on street cleaning, involving collecting 3,000 tonnes of illegally dumped bags, providing recycling facilities, landfill recovery and waste enforcement. The system is broken and needs to be fixed. Bord na Móna drove economic development in the midlands. It was supposed to be central to the just transition to a green economy. Rather than protect the State’s involvement in this, why has Bord na Móna had its assets stripped? When will we have again a publicly controlled, affordable and sustainable waste management system in Ireland?

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