Greg Byrne from Dún Laoghaire has written in to draw our attention to the fact that his local council has raised its bin charges quite dramatically since the beginning of the year, writes Conor Pope
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has increased the bin weight charge by 25 per cent from €0.20 a kilo to €0.25 a kilo, he says. "This charge is in addition to an annual standing charge of €80 and a lift charge for each bin collected of €4."
And as if that wasn't bad enough, he says, the charge for a private car bringing household waste to the Ballyogan Recycling Park has increased by 67 per cent, from €12 a car in 2005 to €20 a car in 2006.
"Inflation is currently running at 3.3 per cent," he points out.
We got in touch with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to confirm the price rise and to find out how the two increases could be justified.
In relation to the bin weight charge, a spokeswoman accepted that it was a 25 per cent increase but because there had been no increase in the annual standing charge or the lift charges, residents could expect their total refuse bill for 2006 to climb from an average €240 last year to €260 - up just over eight per cent.
She added that since the introduction of the pay-by-weight system at the beginning of 2005, wallets and landfills have benefited as people were given a financial incentive to reduce the amount of waste they put out for collection.
In 2004 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown householders disposed an average of 1,000 kg each. This fell by more than 40 per cent last year, she said.
A separate spokesman defended the 67 per cent increase in the cost of bringing household waste to the civic recycling park.
"The facility cost €2 million last year and we took in just €1 million in fees, so we decided to increase the cost per car to cover that shortfall," he said, adding that it was the first increase in fees since 2003.
He pointed out the recycling centre was a non-profit business and said many items, such as bottles, papers and clothing, could be disposed of for nothing.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is not the only place in the capital city where refuse charges are climbing.
Refuse charges are to rise by one third in south Dublin from next month.
Blaming increased disposal costs, South Dublin County Council earlier this month announced its intention to increase its charge for emptying a large bin from €6 to €8 per tag, while the price of tags for small bins will go up from €3 to €4.
Value4money: Chocolate Chip cookies
Cadbury's Choc Chip Cookies €1.01 for 150g, €6.73 per kg
Highs: These cookies have been around for a long time and are certainly the most familiar of the brands tried. They are small and sweet-tasting and ideal for a child in search of a quick sugar fix. They are also comparatively cheap.
Lows: They taste cheap too, however. There's not a huge amount of chocolate in each cookie. This would be fine if the biscuits were nice, but they are entirely unremarkable. They don't look particularly appealing either, and the fact that they come in a bag rather than a tray means they are more prone to falling to bits than the other biscuits.
Verdict: Cheap as chips
Star rating: **
Jacob's Chocolate Chunk Cookies €1.99 for 200g, €9.95 per kg
Highs: These Irish-made biscuits are new to the market and the market will be a better place for their arrival. They're cheap, look almost home-made and taste pretty fantastic. They're the largest of the cookies tried and get the sugar balance spot on, so they're not excessively sweet.
Lows: The claim that they are "crammed" with chocolate chips is a little dubious - proportionally, there appears to be a lot less chocolate in these than some of the competition. The packet is easy to tear, leaving you with a choice of eating the lot or allowing them to go stale once they're opened.
Verdict: A champion cookie
Star rating: ****
Against the Grain Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies. €4.99 for 150g, €33.26 per kg
Highs: If the Cadbury's option is for children, then these organic cookies are most certainly a grown-up biscuit. They are wheat-, dairy- and gluten-free, but don't lose anything in terms of quality and taste because of that. They are made with very good dark chocolate, and are less sweet but more satisfying than the other biscuits tried. The hazelnuts and pecans add a new dimension. These are nice and light and will make for a good after-dinner biscuit, while the others might be better as an instead-of-dinner choice.
Lows: At €4.99 for a packet they are more than double the price of the other biscuits tried. Bought in Avoca, these might not be as widely available at the others.
Verdict: Very dear but very good
Star rating: ***
McVities Masterpieces Great American Chocolate Cookie. €1.67 for 150g, €11.13 per kg
Highs: There are so many chocolate chips in these cookies, there's barely any room for biscuit. The reason they're so choc-heavy might be that they're made with both "milk chocolate chunks" and "milk chocolate chips" (no, we've no idea what the difference is either).
Lows: There are just eight cookies in the packet, so if you're remotely hungry there is a very real danger that you will eat an entire packet in a single sitting. And who would have thought that the Great American Chocolate Cookie would come from Middlesex?
Verdict: The chocoholic's choice
Star rating: ****
