Will Sinn Féin now abolish LPT, water and bin charges?

SINN FÉIN has opposed bin charges, denounced the Local Property Tax and described Irish Water as a scam.

However, it is untested when it comes to balancing budgets and the daily running of a city.

With that in mind all eyes are now firmly fixed on Sinn Féin as the dominant party in Dublin City Council to see if it can back up its fighting talk with results.

One of its biggest promises has been the abolition of the Local Property Tax. While this cannot be done at local level, there is a provision within the legislation to allow local authorities to adjust the rate up or down by up to 15%.

However, a cut of even 10% would mean having to find €8m in savings or cuts elsewhere.

It was also against the privatisation of Dublin City Council’s waste collection in January 2012 and has since criticised the poor service offered by Greyhound Waste and the rising cost of bin charges. However, it would be almost impossible for the council to wrestle control back.

A party source said that while water charges and the Local Property Tax cannot be scrapped by the council, Sinn Féin would not be willing to ‘manage austerity on behalf of the Government’ like the Fine Gael and Labour councils of the past.

The source said: ‘If we can’t directly change things we will bring pressure on the Government to do it.’