The Irish Independent said on Sunday that authorities had failed to chase up €1bn owed by the public, with the lion’s share of that sum down to unpaid bills for waste collection or water services.
The article says many councils have failed to recoup between 20% and 40% of owed for water charges and refuse collection.
Among the worst offenders listed in the article is Dublin City Council, which is owed tens of millions of Euros in uncollected charges, having failed to collect 51% of commercial water charges, and 18% of domestic bin charges last year.
South Dublin County Council failed to collect 58% of its water rates in 2007 while Meath county Council failed to collect 60%.
Sam Bond