Bin charges to freeze for most Louth homes
BIN charges are to be frozen by many waste operators in County Louth, including Dundalk’s main collection firm, Oxigen, after an agreement was reached earlier today between the government and the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) members over the introduction of the controversial pay by weight which was due to come into effect from next week, July 1.
The IWMA, which says it manages three quarters of all waste produced, and includes local collectors including Oxigen, Panda and Drogheda’s AES, said the agreement means that no householder disposing of the same quantities of waste will face any additional charges during that time.
Over the next year, householders in Louth and around the country will also be provided with a cost comparison that will show the amount of waste they are disposing of, their current costs and the equivalent pay-by-weight charges.
In addition, the IWMA said its members have agreed to ‘provide a weight allowance to HSE patients supplied with incontinence wear to reduce their annual waste charges’ and ‘IWMA members are committed to an arrangement whereby the additional weight attributed to non-infancy incontinence wear will be collected free of charge’.
It is expected that there will be an information and promotional campaign in over the next six months to explain the pay by weight system while a review of the market is would take place after 12 months.
Two Louth TDs had dubbed the planned increases in ‘standing charges’ as ‘crazy’, with Fine Gael TD Peter Fitzpatrick calling on the imposition of ‘maximum per kilo rate’.
Mr Fitzpatrick said: ‘At present the government sets minimum per kilo rates for waste collectors for environmental purposes, but no upper limit is set in the regulations. I’m now asking the Minister (Simon Coveney) to examine if this can be changed’.
Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, who has condemned the proposed increases in bin charges and described them as outrageous, wrote to all of the waste companies in Louth last week requesting information on their payment plans.
In addition, he called on Fianna Fáil ‘ to join the effort to scrap bin charge hikes’.
He said: ‘Many people are only now adjusting to the reality that Fine Gael are back in government; despite the result of the general election. The bin charges debacle has been a sharp real- ity check. People just cannot afford the punitive hikes in charges. Will Fianna Fáil support this?
‘ The strength of public opinion has forced them to do so, but on other issues they have sided with Enda Kenny. Last week, they supported the refusal of the government to accept legislation that would have provided rent certainty’.