Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 25th April 2024 Issue no. 1111

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Dublin street cleaning and maintenance may be privatised

Street cleaning, road and housing maintenance are amongst services that Dublin City Council may be about to privatise, as a result of the refusal of councillors to back chief executive Owen Keegan's plans for a new 'super depot' in Dublin 8, which would have become a centre for street cleaning and maintenance staff serving all of Dublin city centre and the southeast of the city. A workforce of around 400 could be affected.

In a letter sent to councillors ahead of last week's city development plan vote, Mr Keegan promised to provide new sports facilities and some housing for the Liberties area of Dublin if he was given the go ahead to build a new cleaning and maintenance depot to allow the closure of a number of smaller depots around the city which were "no longer fit for purpose", reports the Irish Times.

There was, he said, a need for a "more efficient depot operating model, which will facilitate the provision of improved working conditions for staff, the delivery of a better service to citizens, especially of the southeast and south central areas and the achievement of improved operational efficiencies/cost savings".

There is already an older depot on the Marrowbone Lane site but this would be redeveloped and modernised to allow for the closures of other cleaning and maintenance facilities.

Councillors, including Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, voted instead to earmark the Marrowbone Lane site for 'amenity and open space'.

"The southwest inner city is 86% below the benchmark requirement for green areas and for facilities such as this," said Ms Ní Dhálaigh. "There are 12 primary schools in the area and 11 of them have no green space. There are no playing pitches whatsoever in the area."

Mr Keegan said that the councillors' decision may "put in jeopardy the future of direct labour service provision by the city council by frustrating a long overdue and much needed depot upgrade project.".

Siptu, the union which represents the council workers, said talks were ongoing on the issue.

The publication offers some interesting statistics:

* Dublin has 3000 bins & collect 16,000 tonnes of litter annually
* Cigarette butts make up 50% of all litter
* In 2014 the council spent €669,676 on the removal and disposal of illegally dumped bags - that's less than 5% of the litter on Dublin streets
* €300,000 is spent every year cleaning chewing gum from streets
* €500,000 is spent every year on graffiti removal
* An on the spot littering fine is €150. Although 1644 fines were issued in 2014, only 575 were paid

9th June 2016