"Still Value For Money" is the catch-call of Fingal County Council to accompany their massive hike in bin tax to €7.50 a lift, a 50% increase in two years!

They are desperately trying to justify the charge, knowing that they have lost the battle in terms of the hearts and minds of residents on this issue. Those who are paying, do so under duress.

This increase is a total vindication of the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign, which warned that once they had succeeded in establishing the charge through vicious tactics of courts, jailings, and non-collection, that the charge would rise relentlessly.

Not so, said the political establishment, this charge was not about another stealth tax on compliant PAYE taxpayers and pensioners, it was introduced to deal with the waste crisis. Nonsense. Since the introduction of the charge, the amount of waste per household has actually increased. This is because householders are waste receivers, foisted with unwanted packaging, while the producers of waste, packaging companies, big business and large-scale agriculture remain untouched.

This tax is all about money, with bin tax targeted to bring in 6% of the Council’s overall income for 2006. Remember their previous slogan, "You only pay for what you throw away", trying to create the impression that householders could control the charge? Even if householders accomplished a miracle (given the lack of increase in recycling facilities) and halved the amount of times they put their bin out, they would still pay the same given the increases.

Residents have responded by up to 25% opting out of the waste collection service, disposing of their waste themselves. The latest increases will no doubt see this trend increase.

The other danger posed, as pointed out by the campaign, is the eventual privatisation of the service. With charges becoming so onerous, a space is created for private operators to move in and compete with the Council and ultimately undermine the service. This has occurred in Cork city where people are now levied with both a standard bill of €290 as well as a tag of €5 or €3.

The Anti-Bin Tax Campaign demands the abolition of the tax, and the refuse collection service to be run by the Councils, funded from central taxation. This must be taken up by the trade union movement to protect jobs and services from attack. The developments in Fingal and Cork need to be brought home again to householders in those parts of Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown where non collection has not been implemented and non payment remains high.