Leo Varadkar seeks to allay bin charge concerns

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has attempted to cool concerns the public is at immediate risk of price gouging by bin collection firms by saying it will take at least 15 months to fully implement the new charges regime.

Mr Varadkar moved to dismiss fears over the issue before Fine Gael last night back-tracked in the Dáil by announcing plans for a State watchdog to oversee the changes to guard against unreasonable price hikes.

Responding to questions at Farmleigh House in Dublin during his meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Mr Varadkar insisted “bin charges in Ireland are not new” and large sections of the population already use the pay-by-weight system.