10 thousand city council bin customers to get letters about privatisation
Galway Bay fm newsroom - The 10 thousand customers of the city council refuse service will receive letters tomorrow about the closure of its household waste collection.
The council maintains it made every effort to remain competitive in the market, but it's no longer financially viable to continue the service.
It currently charges 229 for a standard three bin system, but because of cheaper alternatives, has lost over 1 thousand customers since the start of the year.
The City Council will advertise for expressions of interest from Thursday, and a private company is expected to take over the service from November.
The new company must continue and maintain the existing council service including pricing structure and collection days until December 2014.
None of the 30 council staff affected by the move will be made redundant.
The matter will be debated at this evening's meeting of the city council where some councillors are expected to challenge the privatisation.
However, City Manager Brendan McGrath says there is simply no alternative to closing the service.