Greyhound denies missing Dublin refuse collections

THE PRIVATE waste company that has taken over the household waste service from Dublin City Council said it did not miss any bin…

THE PRIVATE waste company that has taken over the household waste service from Dublin City Council said it did not miss any bin collections last week.

Greyhound, which last Monday took over bin collections from the council following a sale agreed last December, has sustained criticism for failing to collect bins in some areas during the week.

Assistant city manager Séamus Lyons said the council had received “numerous reports” from residents in relation to the failure of Greyhound to collect bins. In addition, a large number of customers only received letters notifying them of the change in waste provider after the changeover had occurred.

However, the company has claimed it did not miss collections or fail to lift bins left out on the allocated collection days. Any incidents of bins or waste bags left uncollected on the street were the result of “customer misunderstanding”, the company said.

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“There have been no missed collections. When bins have been left out on the correct day, they have been collected.”

There were changes in collection days and he acknowledged that some customers had not received the information letter in time, but he said other customers had received the information but had left the bin out on their “traditional” bin day regardless.

“We are dealing with 140,000 customers and you can’t anticipate how everyone will react. Some people’s days have changed and clearly there has been customer misunderstanding, but anyone can go online and check their collection calendar.”

Labour councillor Rebecca Moynihan, who represents the south central area of the city, said many of her constituents who had been expecting their regular collection last Monday had not received letters telling them their collection day had changed.

“There were parts of my constituency, particularly in areas that use bags, that looked like Naples when you walked around it.”

Even for people who had internet access, the online calendar on the Greyhound website was not functioning last Monday, she added.

The council management had ample time to prepare for the changeover and should have been able to ensure that it was better executed by Greyhound, Ms Moynihan said.

A special meeting of city councillors will be held tonight to discuss issues surrounding the transfer of the service to Greyhound, which will include concerns relating to council binmen redeployment.

A facilitator had been engaged to work with the council management and unions representing the workers and a report was due to be issued to both sides today, Mr Lyons said.

While progress had been made, “not every aspect has been agreed” and it was likely some issues would this week be referred to the Labour Court by the unions.

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly is Dublin Editor of The Irish Times