Laois County Council ‘discussing’ introducing bin charges
Discussions on the matter are currently taking place within the environment section of Laois County Council.
CLLR Aisling Moran suggested that as a way of tackling illegal dumping in Laois that property owners should be mandated to have refuse collection bins on their premises. The cost of providing bins, she said, could be included in private tenants rent, including those in council owned houses.
Speaking at the February meeting of Laois County Council she said: “The tenants could be charged €20 a month. At least if the bins are outside the houses there’s less chance of illegal dumping. They’re not going to put their rubbish in the back of their cars and drive 10 miles out the road to dump it, if there is a bin outside their house that is already paid for.”
Cllr Ben Brennan described the illegal dumping around the county as “completely out of control.”
He said: “They’re just healing it up at the side of the roads. Everyday along the Relief Road in Graiguecullen they’re just dumping along it. Laois County Council are doing their best trying to keep it clean and they’re getting called out every day over it. We need more staff and cameras. They just drive up in the middle of the day and dump. They don’t care anymore.”
Senior council official Georgina Ireland said that there are legal issues surrounding the imposition of a bin charge in council accommodation rental contracts.
She said that discussions on the issue are currently taking place within the environment section of the council.
Cllr Moran asked that similar to other private rental contracts where maintenance and electricity costs are included could the council not include, in its rental contracts, a fee for bins?
In reply Ms Ireland said: “A local authority rental agreement would have to be entered into and we haven’t done that before. We are discussing whether or not we can put that in our tenancy agreements. It’s not the same as a private tenancy agreement, where the landlord of the property can do that.”
Regarding the illegal dumping in Graiguecullen Ms Ireland said that council is currently looking at erecting CCTV cameras, but some issue still exist around data protection and GDPR legislation.
