A former Lord Mayor of Dublin says higher property taxes would help alleviate the capital's litter problem.
Hazel Chu was speaking after the city was described as the "city that never sweeps" by journalist Daniel McConnell.
Ms Chu told The Hard Shoulder she believes it's down to a lack of resources.
"Because of how things have happened, coming out of the pandemic, the resources have been changed around.
"But also in terms of budget - because the management, the executive will always say they are hamstrung by what resources they have.
"And time and time again... ourselves in the Greens, Labour, other parties have asked for... plus 15% of the property tax to make sure there is a budget there for council to try to enact certain services.
"But time and time again, that's been voted down.
"We're at minus 15% in Local Property Tax, it's not back to the ask of 0%".
'Is it enough'?
She says the council do work hard, but questions whether more could be done.
"I think what we've noticed coming out, and we're not totally out of things - but we have been slowly emerging from a pandemic - is that the streets have gotten worse.
"I know from working with council staff they do work very hard, and there is a schedule in place.
"But is it enough, is the question?"
And she says the cleanliness of the city is down to where you live.
"We've noticed that in certain areas it's better than others.
"And this comes down to a point I constantly raised in the last couple of years in council, is that there's a postcode lottery going on as well in Dublin.
"What happens in certain parts of the city seems to be effectively getting worse, and some areas are getting better.
"And there is that postcode lottery I think we need to change.
"We need to make sure that you have a balance, an equitable share across the city, of making sure things are clean and welcoming and habitable".
