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[Press Release: September 26th, 2005] De Burca calls on Fine Gael to clarify its position on the introduction of charges for recyclingGreen Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca has called on the Fine Gael party in Wicklow to clarify its position on the introduction of charges for recycling following a recent meeting of the Environment Strategic Policy Committee of Wicklow County Council. The issue of charges for recycling arose during a discussion about reviewing the County Waste Management Plan."I was very concerned when during the debate, Cllr George Jones strongly emphasized the fact that other councils around the country had already successfully introduced charges for recycling" says de Burca. "Cllr Jones was very much supported by the Fine Gael Chairman of the committee, Cllr Vincent Blake, who agreed to put the item on the agenda for discussion at our next Environment Committee meeting". Cllr de Burca says that Cllr Jones was one of the strongest supporters of the privatisation of waste collection services in the county that occurred several years, because he believed that it would result in more "competitive" process for the consumer. "Perhaps Cllr Jones does not believe that the almost 600% rise in waste collection charges since privatisation of the services is enough for the people of Wicklow to be paying for their waste at the moment" says de Burca. "He obviously feels that they should be paying more, and is now proposing that charges for recycling are introduced on top of this. I cannot support this position and believe that we need to be doing as much as we can to incentivise householders to recycle as much waste as they can, even though there is a good deal of work involved in sorting and cleaning the waste materials involved". The Green Party councillor says that if Cllr George Jones is going to run as Fine Gael’s candidate for North Wicklow in the next General Election, he would want to clarify whether the introduction of charges for recycling is going to be part of his policy platform for the lection. "I believe that if Cllr Jones is going to ask people to elect him as a TD for Wicklow, he needs to be clear about what he stands for" says de Burca. "I cant see the people of Wicklow voting for someone who is going to further increase the already high level of waste charges they are already paying".
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