SVP fears council plans to charge for clothing bins

THE Society of St Vincent de Paul is preparing contingency plans in the belief that Cork County Council is planning to charge the charity for use of municipal clothes recycling bins.

The society’s regional president, Brendan Dempsey, said it couldn’t afford to pay such charges as every penny it makes from recycling clothes goes to pay gas and electricity bills for needy families in Cork city and county.

“Last year we met with the council and they said they were thinking of putting it out to tender and suggested a charge of €500 per tonne of clothing,” Mr Dempsey said.

“Then they asked us to give them some breathing space and we did. But since then we have written to them on several occasions requesting meetings and asking them for further information on what’s happening. But we have been told nothing.”

However, former Cork City lord mayor Cllr Dara Murphy said he had sources who indicated the county council was once again endeavouring to sell the rights to its clothes sites.

“The local authority is clearly under pressure to increase income and maximise the service it provides to its people. I empathise with the local authority in this regard.

“However, I feel this proposal must be rejected for a number of reasons. One of the main ones is that all the money raised by the charity is distributed to the most vulnerable people in the city and county,” Mr Murphy said.

Last year, St Vincent de Paul raised €500,000 from the sale of second-hand clothes through its chain of charity shops.

In total, the charity distributed €4 million to needy families in the region last year.

Mr Dempsey said he was putting a number of contingency plans in place in the likely event that the council pulls the plug on its clothes collections.

“I will be asking the bishops of Cork to give us permission to collect clothes from church grounds.

“I will also be approaching business people in the city and county to provide us with pick-up points. I also intend to do this with the farming community, especially in rural areas like west Cork.”

Mr Murphy said he conceded that the county council legally had the power to charge for use of its clothing banks.

“Morally, though, I don’t think the county council has a leg to stand on. They would be taking the money out of the pockets of the poorest people in Cork if they did this,” Mr Murphy said.

A county council spokesman insisted no decision had been taken on whether to tender out the servicing contracts.

The council previously went to a tendering process to regulate the provision and servicing of textile banks at nine civic amenity sites and 79 ‘bring bank’ locations throughout the county at which such a service was provided.

That tendering process has expired.

“A new tender process would be required, should Cork County Council decide to proceed on a countywide basis,” the spokesman said.