There were growing fears in Galway city yesterday that the waste crisis could lead to job losses and pose a threat to public health, as householders and businesses were left without a refuse collection service for a second day.
Galway Corporation has already confirmed there will be no collections on Monday. Rubbish was already beginning to pile up outside business premises yesterday afternoon. There were no collections in the city or county.
The Western Health Board said public health aspects were not a matter for it at the moment.
Corporation staff again re fused to pass a picket by private waste-collectors at the Poolboy site, near Ballinasloe, where a ban on commercial refuse from the city came into effect on Thursday. No commercial or industrial waste in any part of the city or county was being collected.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, said resolving the waste crisis was a matter for the local authorities. "I think it is a matter for Ballinasloe urban council and Galway County Council to negotiate some kind of an arrangement. That is the first port of call. It is a local responsibility," Mr Dempsey said.
Major city companies such as Boston Scientific, which employs 2,200 people, are already facing major problems in terms of being unable to remove organic waste materials from their internal catering facilities.
The Galway Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned jobs could be at risk in the hotel and catering sector, with some outlets said to be seeking out pig farmers in the county to take their organic waste.
"This will have a major effect too on the big companies like Boston Scientific, where thousands of people have to be fed every day," said a spokeswoman, Ms Maeve Joyce.
The Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, a Galway West TD, said Mr Dempsey would have to intervene if Galway Corporation and Ballinasloe Urban District Council could not solve the impasse. Mr Fahey urged the corporation to adopt the Connacht Draft Waste Management Plan at its meeting on Monday night. The plan, which includes a controversial proposal to locate an incinerator just outside the city, was rejected by the local authority last year.
Meanwhile, Ballinasloe UDC is considering taking High Court action over the picket by the Waste Contractors' Association at Poolboy.
"We have several alternative waste-management projects in the planning and licensing process but, in the interim, we rely on the local authorities to provide adequate waste-management infrastructure," a spokesman for the Waste Contractors Association said.
It has advised businesses not to leave waste out for collection, to separate all organic matter (food) from dry waste (paper, plastic etc), and to store dry waste in containers or plastic bags on their premises.