Grease discharged by Dublin hotels and restaurants has caused blockage and flooding that according to council officials is costing the capital up to €300,000 to fix.
Fine Gael Councillor Gerry Breen had complained on behalf of city businesses that now face seven sets of charges such as rates, water and refuse charges and claimed there is a threat of revolt over a charge to monitor grease traps
He outlined the story of one businessman who dished out €5,200 to install a grease trap and disposal system but then had to pay a €610 charge to have it inspected.
Assistant city manager Matt Twomey said there had been a lack of compliance among food establishments which leads to drain blockages.
Well known hotels in the city had caused the most recent blockages, leading to an emergency and expensive out of hours response.
Grease blockages must be removed by hand which he described as a 'rotten, messy job' that costs between €100,000 and €300,000 every time it is carried out.
A sewer pipe in Clontarf took a total of six weeks to clean, and Independent Cllr Bronwen Maher said grease had been responsible for a fish kill in St Anne's Park, Raheny.
A meeting of the council's environment committee today heard from Mr Twomey that as a private company had been hired to monitor grease traps 18 months ago, some 2,5000 tonnes of FOG has been removed from the city's drainage system.
Councillors expressed their worries about the cost four inspections a year – at up to €1,630 a time – to their businesses.
Mr Twomey, however, said the number of inspections would be brought down as food premises become more compliant.
He said when a first study was carried out in November 2003 only two out of 200 premises were found to have grease traps that worked properly
