A Bad Deal for Customers and for the Council-Nugent
Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent has said the proposed privatisation of the city’s refuse service is a bad deal for customers and for the council.
Cllr Nugent said:
“Sinn Féin is completely opposed to the manager’s proposal.”
“Under the terms of the deal, the waiver scheme will cease as of April 2013. This will mean full charges being applied to 5,736 households currently receiving OAP waivers and 7,144 households in receipt of fixed charge waivers. Not only will this mean another burden on hard-pressed families – it is likely to result in a rise in illegal dumping, with the city council paying the cost of the clean-up.”
“That the council’s customer base of 25,000 is to be handed over to Country Clean with no remuneration for the city council also raises serious questions over this deal.”
“The manager last night gave no indication that he had engaged in any process of competitive tendering in order to get the best value for the council and its customers. The manner in which the deal with Country Clean was closed before the manager even informed the council of the negotiations lacks transparency and is undemocratic. Rather than privatisation, we need a risk equalisation scheme which would make private operators contribute towards the cost of the waiver scheme and offer a level playing field for the public service to compete.”
For further information contact Cllr Mick Nugent @ 087-6755793
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