Mayor pledges to fight bin proposal

Galway City and Waterford County are the only two local authorities left in the State which still run a public waste collection service and confirmation that the city service is under review has fuelled speculation that it could be abandoned.

But a senior City Council official has described the speculation as “premature”, while the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Padraig Conneely, said the elected members would strive to retain the service, including the waiver scheme which costs the city about €1 million per year.

Competition from private operators including City Bin, Barna Waste, Walsh Waste, and Greyhound, has seen the Council’s customer base shrink from 22,000 to less than 11,000 in the space of nine years and led to questions over the viability of the service.

“We are reviewing it, but to suggest that we are getting out of the business is premature,” said Director of Services Joe O’Neill yesterday.

Galway City Council was the first in the country to introduce a three bin system, focused on recycling, 12 years ago and has consistently kept a waiver scheme for pensioners and low income households despite pressure on the local authority’s finances.

The private operators are not obliged to provide a similar subsidy to householders on low incomes, but they have taken away a big chunk of the City Council’s business over the past decade.

F or more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.