Labour seeking national waiver scheme for refuse charges

Statement by Eamon Gilmore TD, Labour Spokesperson on Environment and Local Government

The Dail will this week discuss a Labour Party motion calling for the introduction of a uniform national waiver scheme for domestic refuse charges to assist pensioners and others on low incomes who face difficulties in paying the current level of charges. The motion will be debated in Private Members Time on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Labour Party Spokesperson on the Environment, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, said today that the decision in 2003 of then Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, to transfer responsibility for setting waste charges from democratically elected councillors to local authority managers has led to a very significant increase in the level of these charges.

With the greatly increased charges, the absence of any national waiver scheme has created real hardship for pensioners and others on low incomes.Some local authorities have their own waiver schemes, but the level of relief offered can vary greatly. Other local authorities have no waiver scheme at all. This can mean that one pensioner on very modest income will have pay the full charge while another on exactly the same income and precisely the same economic circumstances living just down the road in another local authority area may not have to pay at all.

The special status of pensioners and the particular economic difficulties they can face has been recognised through either free or reduced payments for public facilities such as travel, television, phone and electricity. There is no logic in then demanding that they pay the full refuse charges that can, in some cases, amount to the equivalent of several times their weekly pension.

The government cannot continue to wash its hands of this situation. The local authorities are operating within the framework set out by Minister Cullen and followed through by Minister Roche. The government must now act and introduce a uniform national waiver system to ensure justice and fair play for everyone.

NOTICE OF MOTION

That Dail Eireann calls on the government to introduce a uniform national waiver scheme for domestic refuse charges in view of:

a)the way in which the decision of the government in 2003 to transfer responsibility for setting waste charges from democratically elected councillors to local authority managers has led to a very significant increase in the level of charges;
b)the fact that these charges can result in financial difficulties for pensioners and others on low incomes, or those who have large families or exceptional household circumstances;
the great variation in waste charges and existing waiver schemes operated by local authorities and the total absence of any waiver scheme in some areas.