COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 10, 2008

QUESTION NO. 8

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

To ask the Manager if there have been many complaints about the proposed new tagging system for refuse bins and if it is intended to provide a more comprehensive and detailed explanation to the public on how it is to operate.  Constituents have complained that the announcement was made without any consultation or without adequate explanation as to how it will operate and some people report that they did not get any confirmation (as promised) even though they put out their bin twice (when they did not get feedback as expected) as requested.  Can the Manager make a statement on the matter?

REPLY:

As with any mass mail shot there has been a number of queries from customers about the registration phase currently underway for the "Pay As You Go" automated advance credit system for waste collection charges. In all, from the 83,000 Customers issued with Mail shot material the Council have received 5,000 enquiries in relation to the system, the majority being related to matters of clarification regarding address and customer detail changes, clarification regarding the registration process/instructions and a small number of enquiries regarding how Customers will use the system. 

It should be noted that at this stage there has not yet been any change to the collection system.  Customers have only been required to put a label on their bins to facilitate our teams connecting a bin to a customer.  This is he first stage in enabling customers to manage their accounts.  The exact mechanisms that will be in place will be detailed to customers closer to implementation to ensure that there are no gaps in the process.  We will be in touch with all customers over the coming weeks to detail exactly how the system will work prior to its actual introduction. Following on from queries received from customers a list of Frequently Asked Questions has been developed and is available on the Council website.  If there are any other queries on this they can be directed to staff in the Environmental Services Department.

As has been stated in all of the literature (mailshot material, press coverage or advertisements for the Registration process) Customers will be given more detailed information as to how the system will work, the locations and methods for purchasing credit, accessing their information and using Internet access etc in due course and in advance of the introduction of the credit system. This is a complex project where a number of aspects of the system are being progressed in parrallel in order that the new system can be up an running in the shortest possible time-frame. 

A pack conatining the full and comprehensive detail about the system, including PIN and log-on details, will be issued to all Customers prior to the commencement of the new system. The priority for the moment is to get all bins registered and to finalsie the system configurations. At this stage approximately 57% of Customers have had their bins registered.

Postcard acknowledgements have been sent to customers that have been registered and this will continue over the next couple of weeks as the registration phase is finalised.