COUNCILLORS IN Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown have called on the local authority to cancel its contract with its green bin collector after many homes were left with no service for up to five weeks.
Households in areas including Cabinteely, Killiney, Sallynoggin and Dún Laoghaire have experienced little or no service from waste management company Greyhound in the last few weeks, according to councillors.
Following numerous complaints, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was forced to issue an apology to householders. Greyhound, which won the contract to collect the bins from January this year, has also apologised.
The company took over the contract from Oxigen and collects green waste all over Dublin, having also won contracts to cover Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council areas.
Fine Gael councillor John Bailey and his daughter, Cllr Maria Bailey, have lodged a motion for the next council meeting, calling on the manager to cancel the contract with Greyhound because of poor service.
“I am appalled at the behaviour of the company over the last five weeks,” he said.
“I have been inundated with complaints and there have been bins everywhere. It’s no way to operate a service.”
His own green bin, on Killiney Road, took 4½ weeks to be collected, he said. Other bins had been burned-out or vandalised.
Fine Gael councillor Mary Mitchell O’Connor said her bin in Cabinteely was not collected for three weeks.
“I received a calendar setting out when the collection would take place, but it’s a work of fiction as there has been no sign of Greyhound on any of the days indicated,” she said.
“It’s total confusion.”
She said if the level of service seen in Dún Laoghaire was anything to go by, the problem must be widespread throughout the city and county.
A spokesman for Greyhound said it was aware of issues on the southside of the city in relation to calendars and missed collections.
“We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused,” he said.
“Over the next seven days, all households in the Dún Laoghaire area will receive a new calendar for their collection day and a letter explaining route changes that will improve the service.”
Mr Bailey’s motion will be debated at a full meeting of the council next month.
