A plan to require residents in some areas of Dublin city to use wheelie bins instead of bin bags has been paused indefinitely.
The pausing of the measures for Stoneybatter, Broadstone, and Phibsborough comes as the council had hoped to move to Phase Three of a larger overall plan.
It had been due to come into place on 17 October, having previously been postponed to allow for engagement with residents.
A cross-party working group will now be established to look at other potential options to address waste disposal in areas of the city that have larger residential populations.
Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam, who was lord mayor when the first phases of the plan came into place, said that there was uncertainty over the next stage, and that he recommended to group leaders at Dublin City Council that the 17 October implementation date "not be advanced".
He said that he expects the cross-party group to be established soon, and that its first meeting will take place within the next ten days.
He said: "Councillors have heard what Dubliners have said and we are now going to address their concerns so that we have an effective waste collection system where bags have been the predominant way to dispose of household waste.
"There was too much uncertainty in how this system was going to be managed and handled, and we felt it was inappropriate to implement it without that certainty."
Protests took place against the rollout of the plan, with residents in Dublin 7 criticising the council, saying that wheelie bins would cause footpath hazards for the elderly and those with disabilities, while there would also be more costs involved for people because of the change.
Many also said they did not have room to keep multiple wheelie bins in their houses.
Green Party councillor Feljin Jose said that the plan's first phases worked very well, but called for a different approach for residential areas.
"The ultimate goal is to remove plastic bags, but it is how we get there," he said.
He said he was disappointed in how the council engaged with residents, and said he believes that the overall system of waste management will have to be changed.
"The main barrier with the system at the moment is collection, with operators competing for customers instead of a single operator.
"I would advocate for a model with one operator per area, regulated and controlled by authorities, as well as communal bins, which currently cannot be done as the Department of Environment only allows for the current model of multiple waste collectors."
The council began implementing the programme last year, with the first two phases focusing on more commercial areas rather than residential.
Under the changes, waste had to be left in an approved reusable bin or caddie supplied by a waste collection provider.
It was implemented across 90 streets in the south inner city late last year, before being expanded to 110 northside streets at the start of the summer.
Compactors were also installed on some streets for businesses and residents to use as part of a pilot programme.
The council said these measures were brought in to reduce litter, animal activity, and support the segregation of waste for recycling.
It said that by the end of the first phase, illegal dumping had reduced by about 20 tonnes per month.
It estimates that around €50,000 a year will be saved in disposal costs linked to illegal dumping, and that overall streets were cleaner as a result of the programme’s rollout.
It also said this helped free up council cleaning crews, who respond daily to incidents involving torn bags before routine street cleaning can begin.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday, Caoimhe McSharry Daly, who organised a protest against the changes, said that residents in Stoneybatter, Broadstone, and Phibsborough currently buy bags from their local shops for about "€12 or €13 for three bags", and that they leave those out at night and they are cleared early in the morning.
"That means that the footpath is clear for the rest of the day, and that’s one of the issues with these wheelie bins, because once you put your wheelie bin out you go to work and you don’t take it in off the street until later on."
She said the streets around her area are narrow, and that this would cause difficulties for people.
"Once you introduce a wheelie bin in the middle of that street there’s no way you’re getting by, especially anybody in a wheelchair or who has mobility aid or is pushing a buggy.
"The Government haven’t come out and said anything about how this is conflicting with the Disability Act of 2005, and we’ve raised this accessibility issue especially because there are so many older residents in the area that need the space on their footpaths to go about their day-to-day lives."
She also disputed the council’s concerns over seagulls and rodents, saying "this rarely happens".
