Councillor Paddy Malone pursues cutbacks in refuse arrangement with Oxigen

ARDEE Town Councillor Fintan Malone has had no response from Oxigen Environmental Limited to his request about the changes in refuse collection by the company.

However, a similar request by Dundalk Town Councillor Mark Dearey, has met with success.

It turns out that the company did not notify Dublin City Council - the authority that issued the waste collection permit - about the proposed changes in collections.

The company changed its collections from weekly to fortnightly while still charging the same fees.

Cllr Malone raised the matter with Ardee Town Council and the council wrote to the company on the matter but received no reply.

The same issue was raised with Dundalk Town Council by Green Party councillor Mark Dearey and that council did get an answer.

A report from Dundalk Town Council stated that there is a condition in the permit which requires the permit holder, Oxigen Environmental Limited, to notify Dublin City Council and all persons availing of its domestic waste collection service, about the frequency of collection and give a minimum 10 days notice of any alternative arrangements.

Oxigen did not notify Dublin City Council of the changes it introduced to the kerbside collection system.

Louth County Council has bye-laws on waste collection.

But any change in kerbside waste collection is a matter for the permit issuing authority.

In this case, the authority is Dublin City Council.

There are currently four companies who collect kerbside waste here in county Louth.