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18 December 2000
Dublin City Council's dissolution dissolved by Minister over bin charges will `rubbish local democracy'
Sinn Fein has said that if Dublin City Council is dissolved by Environment Minister and Local Government Noel Dempsey because it refused to pass the 2001 Estimates while it included bin collection charges ``it will make a joke of local democracy''.
The Sinn Fein Group Leader on Dublin City Council, Cllr Christy Burke, said that Sinn Fein councillors would have been prepared to accept a once-off £45 cover charge for the cost of a bin but opposed the concept of a bin service charges ``because it would have accepted the idea in principle, opening the door to price increases in the future and privatisation''.
``Noel Dempsey is the Minister of the Environment and Local Government. Will he rubbish local democracy by abolishing a local authority because councillors kept their promises to voters instead of doing what the Minister ordered?
``As councillors elected by the people of Dublin we refused to be bullied by Fianna Fáil Environment and Local Government Minister Noel Dempsey into reneging on our opposition to the double tax through bin charges.
``And when we don't vote the way the Minister wanted us to he - with the backing of Fianna Fáil - threatens to pull the plug on local democracy by dissolving the democratically-elected Dublin City Council.
``Is it any wonder people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with politics and not bothering to use their vote when Government ministers reject local democracy because it won't dance to their tune?''
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