What does the Minister say to those families who are facing yet another 10% price increase in bin charges by Greyhound? It is outrageous price gouging. Going back three years, the company was charging €16.50 per month. Now it is up to almost €30 per month, or €300 per year. Incredibly, Greyhound is claiming that one of the reasons it is increasing prices is that people are returning their bottles and cans under the deposit return scheme. People are doing as they are asked and behaving as we want them to, yet the consequence is that their bin charges go up. This underlines the fact that organising waste collection on the basis of profit does not make sense from the point of view of the environment and that of households. We need to scrap bin charges and return bin collection to the control of councils.

It is ludicrous to suggest that bin companies are putting up their prices because of the deposit return scheme. They are absolutely capable of putting up their prices, and often did so before the deposit return scheme was brought in. People have said to me that they are not happy about the number of bin companies operating on the same streets around the country and that this is not the normal way that bin services or waste collection operates in other countries. I have commissioned a study of the market structure to examine whether the local authorities should switch towards a franchise model under which there would be one waste collection company in each local authority.

That will help pay the bills.