Sir, – On Newstalk this week, Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare was complaining about “bin scavengers” making a mess searching for cans and bottles in receptacles on the street for the Return scheme. Councillor Nial Ring compared the same people to “seagulls”.
With poverty levels at an all time high and the cost-of-living crisis showing no signs of abating, it should be clear why some people are searching through bins for cash day and night. Resorting to dehumanising language to describe people on the poverty line is harmful and lacking in empathy. – Yours, etc,
Vanessa Moran,
Wicklow.
