Dublin City Council has confirmed that residents can expect increased waste collection charges this summer.
It has also confirmed that the new private collection company, Greyhound, will be paid to collect arrears owed to the Council.
Assistant City Manager Seamus Lyons said Greyhound would be allowed to apply for a "modest" increase in July because of increased landfill fees.
Mr Lyons was responding to criticism of the new privatised service - particularly the upfront charge of €100, which Greyhound today announced can be paid in two instalments.
He told the council's Environment Committee that upfront payments are the norm in the waste industry in both urban and rural areas.
He said Dublin City was one of the last authorities to bill for collections and this was a major factor for the €6m in arrears outstanding.
He said Greyhound will be collecting these arrears on behalf of the council and getting a percentage of the debt.
But he said it would not be in Greyhound's interest to "ostracise" customers for not paying these arrears.
In answer to councillors, he said this arrangement complied with debt collection legislation.
Mr Lyons said there had been missed collections among the 140,000 customers concerned but these had been quickly rectified.
He also said there had been a "glitch" in communicating the changeover because of printing problems encountered by Greyhound.
But Labour Cllr Rebecca Moynihan, who tabled motion to the committee, said this explanation was "absolutely ridiculous" as Greyhound had been in negotiation since last October.
She also said the missed collections were "unacceptable"
City councillors have been allocated a special meeting on the issue next Monday.
