Fine Gael TD for Dublin South Central, Catherine Byrne, TD has welcomed a decision by Dublin City Council to scrap its plans to leave illegally dumped rubbish on the streets around the city.

The Council had been planning to allow the rubbish to build up for a number of days next month, to highlight the problem.

She said: "I am relieved that common sense has prevailed on this occasion and the City Council has realised that allowing rubbish to build up, as some sort of awareness raising exercise, would be disastrous. The last thing Dublin needs is the Council deciding to ignore illegal dumping. Instead, we need to relook at this entire issue.

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"The problem has reached unsustainable levels in some areas, and I fully appreciate that it is a significant challenge for the Council. The volume of illegal dumping has doubled in certain locations within the past six months, and it is now costing the Council about €670,000 a year. Clearly, this situation needs to be addressed.

"I believe the entire system of waste management and collection in Dublin City Council needs an overhaul. Despite privatising bin collection services in recent years, problems remain with the collection of private domestic waste. Furthermore, residents in some areas are now being charged to recycling waste, which used to be completely free.

"The Council is responsible for street cleaning and therefore must look for a more sustainable solution to tackle illegal dumping, which is blighting many areas of the inner city. Council officials had proposed leaving illegal waste uncollected for around five days as a deterrent, but now say this plan is 'on hold' because of opposition from residents and local councillors."

(CD)