Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has described the proposed waste charges regime as a new stealth tax which “will again hit low income workers and the less well off”.
In a statement, Deputy Stanley said: “The new waste charges will leave householders at the mercy of the market and the waste collection companies in their drive for increased profits.
“These companies will treat waste as a commodity to be utilised for their own commercial interests and they are not operating in the interest of the householders or the environment.
“This will undoubtedly mean increased collection charges are on the way.
“The new charging regime means that commercial operators will now have a choice of pricing options and the Government will have no control over prices charged.
“The waiver promised by the previous Government for low income workers and households has now been abandoned and Sinn Féin is concerned that they won’t be protected.
“We are concerned with how different households are going to be charged under this new regime, for example, low income households with young children or those with disabilities that may produce more waste.
“We need to have a drastic reduction in the volumes of waste produced by industry and at wholesale level.
“This packaging waste should not be passed onto households to dispose of and these changes introduced do not in any way prevent waste being produced in the first place.
“Previous governments of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens have presided over the privatisation of waste management, including landfill in this country. This should never have happened.
“Although the new regime comes into effect next week, it is beyond belief that we still don’t know what the new rates will be.
“These charges are just new stealth taxes which could yet turn into an Irish Water style debacle.”
