THE DIRECTORS of three waste disposal companies along with a former secretary of Mayo County Council who were acquitted by a jury yesterday of charges relating to breaches of competition law are to look for their costs from the State following their two-week trial in the Central Criminal Court sitting in Galway.
The jury unanimously found all five accused along with their three waste disposal companies not guilty of 20 counts of attempting to prevent competition in the waste disposal business by allegedly entering into an agreement with each other to divide between themselves the refuse market and customer base in Co Mayo in 2005.
Stanley Bourke of Bourke Waste Removal Limited, Clougher, Westport; Patrick McGrath and Declan McGrath of McGrath Industrial Waste Limited, Turlough, Castlebar and Paul Gleeson of Wheeley Environmental Refuse Services Limited T/A Wers Waste, Weir Road, Tuam, Co Galway, had all denied the charges. They denied entering into an agreement between August 24th, 2005 and September 2nd, 2005, to restrict or distort competition in the provision of domestic waste collection services in Mayo by sharing customers and sharing the market for the provision of such services.
Pádraig Hughes, retired secretary of Mayo County Council, denied six charges of aiding and abetting the three waste disposal companies to commit an offence by entering into an agreement with each other to share the market and the customer base for the provision of waste collection services. The trial had heard evidence that the council had put its €1.2 million annual loss-making refuse collection service with its 14,000 customer base out to tender in 2005 and that the defendants realised on reading the tender document separately that no one private refuse collector could submit a successful tender for the council’s business on their own. So they decided to come together and form a company to submit a joint tender offering €1.5 million for the council’s customer database.
All four defence teams contended that customers had a better service now than when the council had been operating the business. Prices were lower, recycling was now commonplace and customers could pick and choose which operator they wanted to collect their refuse.
Following the men’s acquittal yesterday, all four defence teams advised Mr Justice Liam McKechnie they would be making an order for costs on their client’s behalf against the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The judge adjourned the application to Dublin on July 15th.