COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, June 12, 2017
QUESTION NO.21
QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons
To ask for a report into the Privatisation of Bins in SDCC and who decided this and how can it be reversed back to SDCC control and when?
REPLY:
The decision to sell the Council's waste collection service in 2011 was taken by the Council's management at the time. It should be noted that the determination of the Council's waste management policy is an executive function. The circumstances which led to the sale in March 2011 were as follows-
- substantially reducing numbers of customers remaining with the Council service arising from increasing competition from private operators, giving rise to a substantially reduced income from the service
- increasing disposal costs which arose from the closure of the Council’s baled waste landfill at Arthurstown
- at the time of sale of the service customer numbers had reduced by around 15,000 in the previous 6 to 9 months and at this time the deficit between the cost of the service and income generated was calculated at €14m per year.
It is not possible to reverse this decision and return the situation to what existed in 2011. The provision of waste collection services is carried out within an open market. Since the sale of the Council's service to Greyhound many other service providers have entered the South Dublin County area and in the current circumstances these operators are entitled to continue to operate and compete for business. It was not possible for the Council to compete with these private operators in 2010/2011 and it is clear that it could not be done successfully now. Householders currently select a service provider on the basis of the quality of service provided and value for money. It is safe to assume that the Council lost large numbers of customers as we could not match private operators on either or both of these matters.
South Dublin County Council does not propose to re-enter the domestic waste collection market.