Daily Ramblings:
Chew Ain't Goin'
Nowhere ...03/16/2005 06:03:12 pm
Dateline: March 11th 2003
... Councillor Call For Chewing
Gum Ban
Responding to a proposal
by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council that
additional taxes be imposed on chewing gum,
Fianna Fáil Cllr Geoff Power called on Minister
Cullen to go one step further.
'I welcome the proposal for extra tax
but I think we should go a step further and see
if we could ban the stuff completely. It is
scandalous, our country is destroyed with it,'
he said.
Cllr Power, who lives in the fishing village of
Dunmore East, said the disposal of chewing gum is
a national problem.
Dateline: July 15th 2003 ...
Litter Levies Planned In
Clean-Up Bid
A new tax on chewing
gum, polystyrene food wrappers and cash machine
receipts is to be introduced in a bid to crack
down on litter louts, it was confirmed today.
The new levy follows on from the successful
plastic bag tax which has dramatically
cut the number of carrier bags littering the
streets in the past18 months.
...
Mr Cullen said the chewing gum tax - expected to
add 5 to 10 cent to the price of a packet - will
help fund special gum-buster machines.
...
Another levy on polystyrene food wrapping will be
introduced in a bid to make fast food chains
switch to recyclable packaging.
A spokesman for the minister also confirmed that
a tax would be introduced on ATM receipts, but
said there were no details on the levy yet.
Dateline: March 16th 2005
... No Consumer Tax On Chewing
Gum: Roche
The Environment
Minister, Dick Roche, has confirmed that he will
not be introducing a tax on chewing gum or ATM
receipts.
Instead Mr Roche has decided to give the industry
an opportunity to propose a means of dealing with
the problem.
Mr Roche is to start negotiating with sectors
producing what is termed 'nuisance litter' in
order to minimise the waste problem they create.
Anti-litter groups and the Opposition have
criticised the decision.
Labour's Eamon Gilmore has accused Mr Roche of
caving in to commercial interests.
Mr Gilmore claims the decision not to introduce
the chewing gum tax was as a result of direct and
indirect lobbying conducted by the large chewing
gum manufacturers.
Mr Gilmore said that by merely making the firms
pay levies to local authorities, Mr Roche was
ignoring the recommendations of independent
consultants and allowing manufacturers to avoid
facing up to the reality of the litter problem
their products create.
Happy St. Patrick's Day from
Right Wing Bob (and
especially to the fat-cats of "Big Gum." A
bullet dodged, but your time will come, boys, your
time will come).
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs,
And gallantly handed her
My very last piece of gum.
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