Socialist Party attacks Government on bin charges

The Government’s bin charges are motivated by the desire to increase taxation on the poor rather than any environmental concerns, the Socialist Party claimed today.

The party alleged tax is an underhand method of reintroducing the rates system and said it would continue to support householders who were refusing to pay.

It also alleged successive governments were guilty of "years of neglect" of the waste problem by refusing to face up to business interests and tackle the problem at source.

Mr Joe Higgins, TD for Dublin West, said there was "huge anger" within the community over bin taxes, particularly among low-paid PAYE workers and contributory old-age pensioners.

The issue is felt so strongly in Dublin that the Socialists stand to win a seat in Dublin North because of their opposition to it, he said. The party’s candidate, county councillor Ms Clare Daly, said the feedback she was getting during her campaign showed the issue is the "sharp end" of the electorate’s concerns in the area.

She argued that the Government relationship with big business was behind the tax on households. "I find it ironic that while the bin taxes were imposed, those who create the most waste, the large corporations, were given a tax write-off in the last budget to the tune of £329 million."

Figures provided by the Socialist Party showed that industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and the construction industry produced over 76 million tons of waste in 2001, or 95.3 per cent of the national total. This compared with 1.2 million tons, or 1.5 per cent, of household waste.

Mr Higgins and Ms Daly won an injunction in March obliging Fingal County Council to collect all household refuse bins, whether a tag showing the owners had paid refuse charges was attached or not.

Ms Daly also said the party was "100 per cent against incineration". This was potentially an even worse solution" than landfill sites, with the waste merely being transformed into another, even more toxic, form.

The solution is to reduce waste at source, Mr Higgins said, and the Government must fund recycling and legislate to reduce unnecessary packaging. He also advocated mandatory jail sentences for those found guilty of illegal dumping.