The Government's response to the bin charges controversy involves yet another sticking-plaster solution. Buying political breathing space has become the order of the day as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney threatened to appoint a regulator to the waste collection sector unless a 12-month freeze on charges was agreed.
Government backbenchers fretted over a possible repeat of the water charges fiasco while Sinn Féin and other left-wing groups ratcheted up the pressure.
In the end, waste companies agreed not to increase charges while a pay-by-weight system was rolled out on a countrywide basis. Customers could evaluate claims that most households would benefit from the new system. That exercise looks like trouble-in-the-making on the basis that waste companies expect to lose money in the coming months. The only way that can be addressed is through higher prices next year, at which point the protesting placards are likely to appear again.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party and the Green Party have all – at various times – supported “the polluter pays principle” that underpins the pay-by-weight collection system. Protecting the consumer was never, however, an official priority.
That may explain why enabling legislation made no attempt to prevent gouging by private companies. Minimum charges were set, but competition was expected to keep charges down. Instead, some companies planned large service charge increases to compensate for potentially lower waste collection income.
A pay-by-weight system already operates in parts of Dublin and Cork and covers an estimated 20 per cent of households.
The system encourages recycling and its introduction in Cork led to a two-thirds reduction in household waste being sent to landfill. In spite of that, Sinn Féin and Anti Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit circulated Seanad and Dáil motions calling for the system to be scrapped on much the same grounds as they oppose metering and water charges. On this occasion, however, Fianna Fáil is expected to support the waste recycling initiative
In his approach to the companies, Mr Coveney warned if the Government didn’t get what it believed to be “necessary and politically saleable” it would consider “a different approach that might involve a regulator”.
This amounted to waving a big stick at the industry and it brought a commitment to freeze prices. A threat to regulate the industry has now been deferred “for consideration” and the Government has secured a politically-saleable package.
The agreement has not, however, resolved the issue. Questions involving oversight and service charge increases remain. As with the finessing of water charges and changes to the Eighth Amendment, Government handling of these contentious issues reflects timidity and a limited horizon.