Abolition crisis over bin charge looms at council

All 52 members of Dublin City Council are set to be removed from midnight tomorrow due to their failure to resolve a budgetary crisis brought about by the dispute over bin charges.

A majority of the councillors indicated yesterday that they will once again vote against the city manager's budget estimates, which include a 29 per cent rise in the waste management charge.

This comes despite suggestions at the weekend that a number of Fine Gael councillors would break ranks and support Fianna Fáil in passing the budget.

If it fails to pass the budget at a meeting tomorrow night, the council is threatened with abolition and the removal of all the councillors by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Cullen.

Last weekend, Mr Ruairí McGinley, leader of the Fine Gael group on the council, told The Irish Times it was "likely" that some Fine Gael councillors would "decide to vote in favour of the estimates".

However at a meeting on Monday night, the majority of the nine Fine Gael councillors voted to keep the whip on the members. This means that all nine councillors will be obliged to vote against the estimates.

Under the conditions of the three-line whip, the Fine Gael members are compelled to attend the council meeting and are not allowed to abstain.

Of the 52 councillors, 21 are members of Fianna Fáil, which is voting for the estimates, along with the two Green Party councillors.

The 13 Labour and nine Fine Gael members are under whip to vote against the estimates.

The four Sinn Féin members and three independents have also said they will vote against the estimates tomorrow night.

At the last vote taken on the budget, on December 23rd, the Fine Gael group's nine members voted against the estimates, which include a €35 increase in refuse collection charges to €156 per year.

It is understood that suggestions of a split in the group arose following a number of informal approaches from Fianna Fáil councillors suggesting that a deal could be done to share the mayoralty and control of council committees between Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael.

For the last 3½ years, a Fianna Fáil/Labour alliance has rotated the office of mayor.

Both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael group leaders deny that any "formal" approach has been made.

Fine Gael group secretary whip, Ms Niamh Cosgrave, said some of the members had been concerned "that we weren't doing the right thing" in voting against the estimates, but the decision of the whip was final, she said.

"Fine Gael has been excluded from every decision-making body within the council. It was discussed last night \ that we might try and do a deal with Fianna Fáil, but with only 18 months left in the life of this council we'd be selling our souls for a necklace," she said.