Cork Corporation said yesterday it would continue to take legal action against anyone who refused to pay the £145 service charge in the city.
Mr Joe Gavin, the Cork city manager, was reacting to news that the Supreme Court had upheld a challenge by Alderman Con O'Connell against the sticker system for collection of household waste which the corporation introduced on wheelie bins in May 2000.
The system was introduced on a selective basis and meant that in the areas where it was operating householders who did not display a red sticker on their bins were ignored by corporation refuse collection teams.
The impasse continued until last week when a protest group said it had stopped dumping rubbish at the City Hall as a protest as normal collections had resumed.
Mr Gavin said the decision did not prevent the corporation pursuing the normal legal channels if householders refused to pay.