Council axing bin collection but parties want to keep waiver

Local politicians have voted to end Westmeath County Council's involvement in the waste collection business, at a tempestuous meeting of the Council on Monday evening last.But as a result of an eleventh hour compromise brokered by Fianna Fáil councillors, an emergency committee will be set up to discuss the feasibility of rescuing the Council's bin waiver scheme, which - as recently reported in the Westmeath Examiner - was targeted for the axe by Council officials.The decision came as councillors spent two hours debating a report on the Council's waste disposal strategy, which outlined a series of cost-cutting measures.Among these included a recommendation that the bin waiver scheme - a measure aimed at reducing bin costs for the elderly and low-income families - be dropped.The Executive recommended that the Council withdraw from the waste collection business completely, leaving the way clear for private operators, and allowing local government in Westmeath to concentrate on regulating waste disposal.It was also floated that the Council could sell its existing waste collection business.At in-committee meetings held over the past month, councillors learned that a withdrawal from waste collection would save the local authority over €600,000 per annum.They were also told that the Council's own service - operated by Allied Waste Management - was becoming economically unviable in light of the ability of private operators to undercut Council prices.While Fine Gael councillors welcomed the report and signalled their intention to support it, plans to drop the waiver scheme were met with hostility by both Labour and Fianna Fáil councillors.GambleEarly in Monday's debate, Fine Gael resolved to accept the report as it stood - including the proposal to remove the bin waiver scheme.Cllr. Peter Burke said it made sense to support the Executive. "You can't gamble with taxpayers' money," he said, adding that the local authority "cannot compete with the private sector".He was supported by Cllr. Frank McDermott. "If I had a wallet or access to a purse big enough then we could retain the waiver, but you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds," he said.Cllr. Joe Flanagan, warned that if "emergency action" was not taken, someone would be sent in from central government."When I came in here first 42 years ago, we had just seen the tail-end of a Commissioner go out the door," Cllr. McDermott added.County Manager Danny McLoughlin said the private sector can charge 30 percent less for services because of "working arrangements"."We have to deal with inevitability of our financial constraints," he said, adding that if councillors were to delay on making a decision, the Council would not be able to guarantee ratepayers a service in January.On the waiver scheme, Mr. McLoughlin said there would be "sufficient competition" among private operators to keep prices to a certain level, cushioning the blow for customers using the waiver.He said that although the Commission on Taxation report recommended that private operators be compelled to institute a waiver system, the Council could not force them to do so."I cannot in conscience ask you to defer a decision, because you would put off the inevitable and put at risk our ability to secure further funds for this Council," Mr. McLoughlin said.DeferredOffering a counterproposal to FG, Labour's Cllr. Mick Dollard suggested that a decision be deferred until after the December budget. Backed by Cllr. Denis Leonard, he also called for members to support a proposal for a national waiver system.But the motion annoyed a number of Fianna Fáil party members, who accused Labour of "sitting on the fence" despite the two parties' shared position on the waiver issue.Cllr. Paddy Hill said that Cllr. Dollard and his colleagues were "ducking the issue"."There's a number of people in this chamber who don't have what it takes to run a bath," exclaimed Cllr. Robert Troy. "They're going to go home with splinters in their rear ends.""I wouldn't even let them in the bath, I'd throw mucky water on them," FF's Kevin 'Boxer' Moran quipped."To say that I'm annoyed is an understatement," Cllr. Glynn said, asking why the local authority did not do more to market its waste collection scheme to customers, and criticising its approach to collection routes."Why was it let get to this stage?" he asked, pointing out that Allied Waste Management - the company contracted by the Council - is now "selling tags in shops" which compete with the Council service.An angry Cllr. Troy demanded to know why Allied Waste Management was forbidden to canvass for customers on behalf of the local authority, and why the contract of an official appointed to promote the service wasn't renewed.Athlone's Cllr. Frankie Keena said that while he welcomed the report's pledge to close the Ballydonagh landfill next year, the "bone of contention" for Fianna Fáil was the proposed removal of the waiver scheme.Fine Gael's Cllr. Colm Arthur poured petrol on the fire by linking the Council's quandary with the policies of national government, prompting groans of disapproval from Fianna Fáil."We've come to the end of the popular politician era," Cllr. Arthur insisted. "It's up to us make the tough decisions." He said that backing the Executive's recommendations would allow residents of estates to "club together" and make savings by tendering estate contracts to private operators.StreamlinedFianna Fáil's Cllr. Aidan Davitt, who joined Cllr. Troy in acknowledging that the waiver scheme had been abused, called for the scheme to be salvaged, but streamlined. He suggested that an all-party committee look at the feasibility of continuing the scheme in some form.After a brief adjournment, FF councillors agreed to support the Executive's recommendation to pull out of the waste collection business, subject to the establishment of a three-man committee which will discuss the waiver issue.Fine Gael members indicated that they were amenable to the counterproposal and a vote was taken. Only the Labour group - sticking to their opinion that the matter should be deferred until after the December budget - abstained from the vote.In a remarkable political twist, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors supported the amended proposal, ensuring that an all-party committee will be set up to discuss the future of the waiver scheme.Cllrs. Paddy Hill (FF) and Frank McDermott (FG) will sit on the proposed committee, while Labour refused to confirm their representative immediately.