More on that waste collection issue…

Good piece which CL linked to about Greyhound in the Independent this weekend by Shane Ross.

It’s not just that Ross points out that Greyhound have acted in a manner which by any metric is problematic both in their activities in relation to DCC and before that date. He applies a little further light on the issue.

But to be honest, if the article is good the comments on the Indo site are highly entertaining. This surely must be the first time that Shane Ross has been termed a ‘commie’…

What right do you have to know what they do with their money? What do you spend yours on ? The commies Like you are going to run business people out of this country. Greyhound employ over 350 people. Well done to them.

If Ross might be justifiably puzzled by that then one can only imagine his feelings on the following?

This debate needs a bit of balance. Greyhound are entitled to get paid for collecting people’s bins and they are entitled to make a profit. The reason the service was privatised in the first place is because the DCC & SDCC couldn’t collect their money from defaulters who were encouraged by irresponsible politicians to withhold payments. Also Greyhound may be an unlimited company (which has its pros & cons), but so to are many other Irish companies, including all the law firms in this country.

So, no problem with a company that provides a public service being entirely opaque in its finances and dealings? The writer of that little gem went on to describe the original article by Ross as ‘hysterical’. Hmmm.

Or how about this, and in fairness to Deputy Ross he’s been one of the more ascetic of our public representatives, even if his line ain’t mine…

…presumably all you unvouchered expenses are published too, Senator Ross? or is that just a requirement for people who actually create jobs?
Let us eat cake

To be honest it’s the doff the cap mentality which is most dispiriting. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t ask hard questions and for God sakes don’t do anything to upset our betters in business. Take it as read that Greyhound because they are a business and – most risibly given the context, employ people – are grand. I’d love to see the latter thought applied to the state – or indeed what about the DCC workers who previously did the waste collection, but somehow it won’t happen.

Ross is a populist, and a politically right populist one at that, but he’s far from the worst voice to have in the Dáil in days like these.