Sir, – Whatever the history that led to the privatisation of Dublin waste collection, and which seems to have motivated some recent correspondence, Fintan O’Toole (“Trashing the concept of a public service”, Opinion & Analysis, July 8th) touches on a fundamental question on the economics and running of a society.
Public services are, as the name suggests, services provided by publicly funded agencies to ensure that the basic requirements a society requires are provided for in an efficient manner.
Due to issues alluded to by Eddie Molloy (“Accountability needs brickbat of punishment”, Opinion & Analysis, July 4th) there are some issues in the governance and running of public services which can completely undermine their provision and allow the cheerleaders of privatisation to make persuasive calls for the sell-off of services.
Since the vultures of privatisation were unleashed more than 30 years ago there has been a huge sell-off of public services across Europe. This has resulted in a huge curtailment of services no longer seen as profitable and a race to the bottom in the context of pay and conditions of workers.
Public services such as waste management, public transport, health, welfare and education should remain in public hands to allow all citizens an equal foothold in society.
However, the provision of these services by public bodies needs serious reform in relation to work practices, including application of new technology, and accountability.
In the current climate, where governments tend to bow to market demands, public services need to demonstrate that they can provide essential services efficiently, but governments also need to recognise that provision of services can never be seen in the context of profit but only in the context of social dividend.
The case of the Greyhound workers provides a sobering illustration of the unsuitability of privatisation of public services and the workers deserve our support. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Linden Avenue,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Sir, – Cllr Dermot Lacey’s attempt (July 9th) to blame the transfer of Dublin waste collection service to Greyhound on those who campaigned against bin charges (an accusation also made by Pat Rabbitte in the Dáil) is utterly pathetic.
Those of us who fought the charges claimed that once charges were introduced, a pathway to privatisation would be created. There could be no privatisation as long as bins remained a public service paid for from taxation – the way it had been for nearly 100 years before.
Mr Lacey claims that our opposition to bin charges gave the city manager an excuse to use his powers under the Waste Management Act to transfer the service to Greyhound.
But his own party, Labour, has been in government for three years. It has not introduced legislation to return key decision-making powers to elected members of local authorities.
The real cause of the disastrous policy of privatisation is that the main establishment parties of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour have supported both bin charges and the transfer of powers at local level to unelected officials. – Yours, etc,
Cllr BRID SMITH,
People Before Profit,
Meadowview,
Sarsfield Road,
Ballyfermot,
Dublin 10.
Sir, – I look forward to you publishing letters in a decade or so from Labour politicians – if there are any – claiming that the reason Irish Water was privatised was due to the campaign to oppose the payment of a charge for the service. – Yours, etc,
MICK BOURKE,
Ceannt Fort,
Mount Brown,
Dublin 8.