Sir, – Where would we be without such kindly neighbours? Our accommodating neighbours in Meath and Wicklow have offered to take an extra 120,000 tonnes of Dublin’s waste (“Meath and Wicklow landfills to take extra waste to avert crisis”, November 17th). Meanwhile the good folk in the Shannon basin have agreed to give us 330 million litres per day of their water to quench Dublin’s thirst, and feed its leaky pipe system (“Irish Water publishes route of Shannon to Dublin pipeline”, November 8th).
I have heard no mention of paying the kindly neighbours – the people who actually live there, as opposed to landowners and commercial interests – a fair price for their accommodating generosity.
Meanwhile Dublin City Council seems content to write off what 40,000 people owe by refusing to pay for waste removal (“Over 40,000 people to have bin charge debts wiped out”, November 17th), and few political authorities have any interest in collecting unpaid water charges in the capital.
Surely at least 0.1 cent per litre for water and 1 cent per kilo of waste would be an appropriate start to compensate the neighbours and allow them some of the privileges of living in the capital – broadband, public transport, hospitals, universities and jobs. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL ANDERSON,
Balgriffin, Dublin 13.