Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to highlight the amendment brought forward by my Sinn Féin colleagues in the Dáil last night, in which our key priorities relating to waste charges were laid out. We are opposed to pay-by-weight charges and do not want an independent regulator. Fianna Fáil introduced a motion that would not block the new charges but would regulate them. This is a classic case of Fianna Fáil not providing real opposition to the Government. Sinn Féin is able to advance a clear policy on this issue and we did not have to ask the permission of others or to look over our shoulders.

The issue of privatisation, while dated, cannot be overlooked in this debate. In my native county of County Mayo, there has been a fundamental flaw in privatisation of waste services. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael got together in 2001 to privatise the waste services but there was nothing wrong with local authorities delivering this essential service for households. It could have been done efficiently and effectively under the local authorities but it was one of the core functions that was dragged away from local authorities to line the pockets of private providers.