Householders in Dublin may face the prospect of new bin charges, after the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, announced he is to provide €10 million funding for two "brown bin" collection facilities in the region.
When completed the two facilities, located at Kilshane Cross in Finglas and Ballyogan in Carrickmines, will allow for the recycling of biodegradable household and garden waste in the Dublin area for the first time.
A spokesman for Mr Roche said it was up to individual councils to decide whether they wished to charge householders for the new facilities.
"All the Minister can do is provide the facilities for the councils. It is up to the councils to decide after that," he said.
However, several councils contacted by The Irish Times yesterday indicated they had not ruled out the possibility of charging for the bins.
A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council said it would be awaiting the conclusion of a free pilot "brown bin" project among 10,000 households in the area before deciding how best to proceed.
"At the moment there definitely aren't any plans to charge for it," she said. "We can't know until the pilot is finished. But we can't say we will never, ever have a charge for any service."
A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said the bins were not expected to be introduced there for another 18 months but no decision had been made as to whether there would be a charge.
"A lot will depend on how the Fingal pilot project pans out," she said.
South Dublin County Council was unavailable for comment yesterday but a spokeswoman for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said the new composting plant at Ballyogan would be completed "within 18 months to two years".
"A decision will be made at that stage regionally about pricing," she said.
Yesterday's announcement forms part of a wider €32 million package sanctioned by Mr Roche. It includes a further €10 million for the refurbishment of the existing materials recovery facility in Ballymount, Dublin 12.
In total, 16 recycling projects around the country are to receive funding under the initiative.