By Suzanne Pender

UNIONS representing outdoor staff at Carlow County Council objected to a private waste collector emptying public litter bins for free in Carlow town on St Patrick’s Day, it was revealed last week.

The claim was made by cllr Ken Murnane at the latest meeting of Carlow Municipal District following suggestions that private operators could help with litter collections for the town’s bins. “Ray Whelan offered to collect the bins free of charge on St Patrick’s Day and people in the council objected,” revealed cllr Murnane.

His comments followed a suggestion by cllr Fergal Browne that council officials talk to private waste collectors, who may oblige the local authority by collecting public bins if they were in particular areas collecting household refuse. Amid a general call from councillors for additional litter bins in the town, council officials had warned this would lead to “additional operational costs” along with the cost of the actual bin.

“They are doing great business out of Carlow and in my opinion do an excellent job themselves, so maybe as a gesture of goodwill they could pick up a bin and empty the public bin free of charge if they happened to be in that area,” suggested cllr Browne.

“Maybe when they are renewing their permit, or there’s an issue to discuss with them, it’s something we could ask them to get involved in,” he added.

Senior executive officer Eamonn Brophy remarked that “the union of outdoor workforce may take issue with that”. His comments led to cllr Murnane revealing a similar situation on St Patrick’s Day.

Cllr Adrienne Wallace remarked that if they were “not staffed well enough”, then it was an issue. `

Cllr Murnane said that previously an audit of all litter bins in the town was carried out and perhaps this audit needed to be updated, which would reveal where bins are needed and if bins in certain areas are needed at all. Cllr Wallace also agreed that an audit should be carried out.

Members also discussed the recent IBAL results. Cllr Wallace was critical of the “serious amount of businesses” not pulling their weight when it comes to litter, saying it is disgraceful how they are lowering Carlow’s ranking in the litter league. It was confirmed that Carlow County Council had met County Carlow Chamber to discuss the recent IBAL results and had also approached two businesses frequently identified by IBAL as places with littering – Mr Price and Homesavers.

Officials confirmed that the local authority’s environment section met representatives of Mr Price last Thursday and fines would be issued if littering was identified.

Cllr Fergal Browne said he was “tired of the IBAL league”, adding: “We don’t need anyone telling us about our town; we know the litter black spots”.