WHEREVER YOU ARE in the county, you probably have a view on fly-tipping, illegal dumping, the lack of recycling facilities, how your waste is collected and stored.

Waste collection is a basic yet fundamental service we all rely on, and it is not just a private arrangement with our collection company, how it is done affects all our communities.

So it was no surprise that in recent weeks, Dublin City Council hit a nerve with residents in their decision to start banning bin bags across certain communities. The council effectively made a policy decision, but our dysfunctional system of waste collection meant that it is being left to the private bin companies to decide how to implement the changes.

For most affected households, they will now face a doubling or in many cases a trebling or more, of their waste costs, there will be a reduced incentive to reduce waste because many will have to sign up to annual standing charge instead of the pay per bag and there is now the prospect of a proliferation of unsightly bins sitting on streets seven days a week.

Most of the houses affected do not have front garden or back gardens and are situated on narrow streets.

As you can imagine, there has been consternation. We understand Dublin City Council tried to negotiate with the bin collectors on the roll-out of shared collection systems across residential communities, but to no avail.

That pretty much sums up our dysfunctional system. Local authorities rely on private companies for waste collection and yet exert little or no power over them.

Our lopsided system means that........

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