Complete Guide to Skip Bags in Dublin

Live prices, the right size, where the bag can sit and what can't go in it, with no permit to worry about.

See Dublin Skip Bag Prices

A skip bag in Dublin costs from €110 to collect, or from €132.70 if we deliver the bag as well. And unlike a skip, it never needs a council permit. The bag sits on your own property, so there's no application, no daily road fee and no seven-day wait.

That one rule is what makes the bag the easy option in Dublin. It is also the one rule people get wrong, because a bag on the footpath isn't allowed at all. This guide covers prices, sizes, placement, what goes in and how to book, all specific to Dublin.

1. Skip Bag Prices in Dublin

You pay one price that covers the bag, the lift, transport and disposal, with VAT included. What changes the price is the size, and whether you need us to bring the bag or just take one away.

Delivery & Collection means we post a flat-packed bag to your door, usually the next day, and lift it when you're done. Collection Only is for a bag you already have, whether you bought it in a shop or it came from another company. We collect competitor bags too.

One extra to know about: mattresses are disposed of separately from the bag load, at €40 each. Add them when you book rather than burying them in the bag.

2. Which Skip Bag Size Do I Need?

Count your bin bags. If the job would fill about 10, take the Standard. About 20, the Medium. Anything up to 45, the Large. Most Dublin jobs land in the Medium, which is our most popular size.

Volume isn't the only thing to think about. Heavy household waste is fine in every size, but a Large bag packed solid with dense material can end up too heavy to lift safely. The Large is built for bulk: sofas, carpet, bags of garden waste. If your waste is heavy and compact, two smaller loads beat one crammed Large.

Past 45 bin bags, stop and compare against a skip before you order a second bag. Section 8 shows where that line falls. For photos of each bag next to a person, see our skip bag size guide.

3. Do I Need a Permit for a Skip Bag in Dublin?

No. Skip bags are not covered by Dublin City Council's skip permit scheme, and they can't be kept in a public place. That means no footpath, no road, no grass verge and no parking bay. The bag has to sit entirely on private property: your driveway, front garden or yard.

This comes straight from Dublin City Council's Control of Skips Bye-Laws 2025. The bye-laws define a skip as a metal container, then state that skip bags sold in retail outlets aren't covered by the permit scheme and cannot be stored in the public domain.

So there's no permit you could apply for, even if you wanted one. The rule is simple: bag on your side of the boundary, and the council never comes into it. We only place bags on private ground anywhere in Dublin, so the same holds whether you're in Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin or Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

The catch is obvious once you see it. If your house opens straight onto the footpath with no drive or front garden, a bag has nowhere legal to go. A permitted skip or a junk collection is the answer there, and section 8 covers both.

4. Where to Put Your Skip Bag

Put it on flat, hard ground on your own property, somewhere our lorry can reach from the road, with nothing overhead. Pick the spot before you start filling, because a loaded bag isn't going anywhere.

Collection works like this: the lorry parks up and a crane arm lifts the bag straight up by its loops and swings it onto the back. That shapes every placement rule.

Once you start loading, don't drag the bag to a better spot. Dragging wears through the woven base, and a weak base can fail on the lift.

You don't need to be home for collection. Tell us exactly where the bag is when you book. If you're not sure the spot works, send a photo on WhatsApp to 086 600 4382 and we'll tell you before you fill it.

5. What Goes In (and What Doesn't)

Most household and garden waste goes in, including heavy household items. Soil, rubble, plasterboard and anything hazardous stays out, and so do electricals, batteries, paint and asbestos. Load something banned and the crew can refuse the bag.

Most of the banned list has a free or simple route. Shops must take back an old electrical free when you buy a like-for-like replacement, and any shop selling batteries must take used ones back free. Civic amenity sites take both. Paint goes to a civic amenity site that accepts it.

Asbestos is different. If you think something in an older house might contain it, stop and leave it alone. It needs a specialist contractor, such as our asbestos removal service.

Got a load of soil or rubble? A bag isn't the right container. Kollect's 6-yard skip is the smallest in the Dublin range that takes it. Mattresses can be added to your bag booking at €40 each, or collected on their own through mattress removal.

6. Can I Overfill a Skip Bag?

No. Fill it level with the rim and stop there. A bag loaded above the top can be refused by the collection crew, and the same goes for one that's too heavy to lift safely.

The reason is the lift. The crane raises the bag by four loops, and a load piled above the rim shifts as it goes up. That puts uneven strain on the loops and can snap a strap. Anything loose on top can also blow or fall off onto the road on the way to the transfer station.

If the crew can't take it, you'll have to unload the excess down to the rim and rebook, which costs you a day at least. When the bag is nearly full and there's more to go, book another bag or ring us about the next size up. Don't stack.

7. How Long Can I Keep My Skip Bag?

As long as you like. There's no hire period and no daily charge. Fill it at your own pace and book the collection when you're finished.

That's the real difference from a skip. A skip comes with a collection date you agree up front, and on a restricted Dublin City street a full skip has to be gone within 24 hours. A bag on your drive has no clock on it at all.

The bag arrives flat-packed, so you can keep it folded in the shed until the job starts. Then fill it over a weekend, a month or a whole renovation. Clearing a parent's house room by room, or waiting for the last of the garden cuttings, is exactly what a bag is good for.

One tip for Dublin weather: throw a tarp or plastic sheet over a half-full bag when rain is coming. Cardboard, carpet and textiles soak up water, and a sodden load is heavier to lift than the same load dry.

8. Skip Bag, Skip or Junk Removal: Which Is Right for Dublin?

For a small or medium job with a drive to put it on, the bag wins. For soil, rubble or anything over 45 bin bags, book a skip. With no drive at all, or no time or energy to load, book a junk collection.

When a Skip Makes More Sense

A skip holds more and takes the heavy stuff. The 2.5-yard starts at €194.11, and the 6-yard takes soil, rubble and tiles that a bag can't. The trade-off in Dublin is the permit if the skip has to go on a restricted street. Our page on skip hire in Dublin shows the live price for your address, and the Complete Guide to Skip Hire in Dublin covers permits, sizes and access in full.

When Junk Removal Makes More Sense

If there's no drive, the bag is out. A junk collection leaves nothing on the street: a crew arrives with a van, lifts everything from wherever it sits in the house and drives off. It suits apartments, terraced streets with no front garden, and anyone who wants it gone today. Book junk removal in Dublin and you won't lift a thing.

9. How to Book a Skip Bag in Dublin

Online booking takes about a minute. Delivery is next day almost everywhere in Dublin, and 90% of collections happen within three days of your booking.

Prefer to talk it through? Call 01 697 2259 and we'll book it with you, or ring if you need a faster collection. Every bag booking comes with a money-back guarantee.

10. Buying a Skip Bag In Person in Dublin

You can pick up a Standard skip bag over the counter at several Dublin shops and forecourts, fill it, then book a Collection Only with us online or by phone. Stockists include:

There are more Applegreen stockists around the county, including Ballybrack, Clondalkin, Jobstown, Palmerstown and the Naas Road. The full, up-to-date list is on our Dublin skip bag page.

Shop bags are the Standard size. If the job needs a Medium or a Large, order it online and we'll post it out, usually the next day.

11. Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to have a skip bag collected in Dublin?

Collection of a bag you already have starts at €110 for a Standard, €137.49 for a Medium and €230 for a Large. If we deliver the bag too, it's €132.70, €159.49 or €252.70. VAT, lifting and disposal are included. Mattresses cost €40 each on top, because they're disposed of separately.

What is not allowed in a skip bag?

Soil, rubble and plasterboard are out, along with electricals, batteries, paint, solvents, chemicals, oil, gas cylinders, tyres, asbestos, clinical waste and food waste. Electricals and batteries go back to the shop free or to a civic amenity site. Asbestos needs a specialist contractor. A bag with banned items in it can be refused.

How do skip bags work?

We post a flat-packed bag to your door, or you buy one in a shop. You open it on your drive or garden near the road, fill it level with the rim at your own pace, then book collection. A lorry with a crane arm lifts it by its four loops and takes the waste to a licensed facility.

Are skip bags cheaper than skips?

For small jobs, yes. A bag starts at €110 to collect, against €194.11 for Kollect's smallest Dublin skip, and a bag never carries a permit fee. Once you're past about 45 bin bags, or the waste includes soil or rubble, a skip is the better buy. Compare before ordering a second bag.

What is the cheapest skip bag collection in Dublin?

With Kollect, a Standard bag on Collection Only, from €110. That suits a bag you've bought in a shop or had from another company. It holds about 10 bin bags. If you'd fill two Standards, one Medium on the same service works out cheaper, at €137.49.

Conclusion

A skip bag is the simplest way to clear a small or medium job in Dublin. Pick the size by counting bin bags. Put it on hard, level ground on your own property, never on the footpath. Keep soil, rubble, electricals and paint out, and stop at the rim. There's no permit and no deadline. When you're ready, see the live price for your town on our Dublin skip bag hire page.