Supreme Court to hear test case on validity of bin charges
Dublin City Council is reportedly planning to take a test case before the Supreme Court to determine the validity of waste charges it introduced a number of years ago.
The local Circuit Court and the High Court have issued conflicting rulings in connection with the charges.
The former found that the fees breached the 'polluter pays' principle contained in Dublin's waste-management plan, but the latter disagreed.
Reports this morning said Dublin City Council made an application yesterday to bring a test case before the Supreme Court in an effort to bring finality to the issue.
The application was made as Dublin Circuit Court prepared to hear appeals from several people refusing to pay the charges.
The council reportedly said it was willing to pay any costs incurred by the appellant in the test case due to the seriousness of the issue.
If the Supreme Court finds that the charges are illegal, Dublin householders could be entitled to repayments of up to €13m, which they paid in 2001 and 2002.
