Greyhound calls on govt to subsidise waiver customers in south Dublin

Greyhound Waste Management company is calling on the Government to subsidise the bin collections of 17,000 waiver customers in south Co Dublin.

The company wants the Department of Social Protection to pitch in, after an agreement the company struck with South Dublin County Council to pick up the tab for the first year of their new service runs out at the end of next month.

Greyhound had agreed to provide a service to waiver customers for an initial 12-month period after the Council deducted the cost from the agreed sale price when it sold the business to the company in March 2011

That agreement expires on March 31and Greyhound has advised the Council, and Social Protection Minister Joan Burton, that if the cost of the service is no longer subsidised that the company has no other alternative but to charge waiver customers.

"Someone has to pay for the service provided to waiver customers," the company said in a statement.

"If South Dublin County Council or the Department of Social Protection is unwilling to subsidise the cost of the service Greyhound has no alternative but to charge customers directly for the service."

Waiver customers tend to be elderly or low-income households, many of whom argue they cannot pay full service charges.

It comes after a controversial transfer of service recently, from public bin services provided by councils in Dublin, to private services.

Greyhound also agreed to provide a service for 12 months to the 33,000 waiver customers of Dublin City Council after it bought that bin service business in December last.