COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Monday, March 21, 2011

QUESTION NO.3

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

  "To ask the Manager to report on the delays in picking up Council bins from customers who no longer use them, and to confirm current waiting times for pickup as well as waiting times for replacement/re-issuing of Council bins?"

REPLY:

Customer who have left the service have their accounts deactivated and their bins are listed for removal from their premises. Under contractual arrangements in place, a contractor operating on behalf of the Council removes the Brown Bin and Green bins but the refuse collection depot is responsible for removal of black bins.  Both customers who are awaiting delivery of new/replacement bins and those who have changed service provider and are awaiting removal of bins should note that there may be a delay due to staffing resources.  In worst case scenarios this has taken a number of months because of issues within the refuse collection service including prioritisation of refuse collection over delivery/removal of bins,  collections having to be rescheduled due to weather etc. as well as numbers waiting on both delivery and removal but recently staff have been assigned to these tasks at every available opportunity and consequently waiting times have reduced.

Bin removal trucks are only operational when there is a full complement of staff available for operating the refuse collection services.  At present staff are currently being allocated to the refuse section from cleansing and burial grounds on a daily basis to ensure that all routes are maintained and therefore both the removal and delivery services are affected.  Customers are informed that they will be notified by text message when removal of their bin is scheduled and are requested to ensure that the bins are empty and accessible for staff.   However, arrangements have also been made so that customers can return their bins to the Civic Amenity, Ballymount if they are in a position to do so.