Donohoe: People complaining about bin charges made it impossible for councils to collect rubbish
The Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said we have been left with no alternative to private operators picking up our bins.
Concerns have been raised that changes to the way we pay for our bins will lead to some companies charging exorbitant prices.
All flat rates are to be scrapped and customers will from this weekend pay by weight, or by lift, when their contract is renewed.
Paschal Donohoe said that people complaining about the new regime need to look at the circumstances that led to it.
He said: "The same people made it impossible for local authorities to be able to afford to pick up waste. They opposed local authorities charging rates to allow waste collection to be affordable. That is one of the reasons not a single local authority in the country picks up waste.
"They are now the same people who are saying the private sector has no role in it either. Well if that's the case - who's going to pick it up?"
Meanwhile, there are concerns that changes to the way we pay for our bins will lead to more illegal dumping.
Councillor Christy Burke says illegal dumping at Croke Villas just beside Croke Park already happens every day, for example, by people who drive by and throw their bags over the walls.
