Dublin City Council is being forced to slash €25m from its budget next year, in a move which will see cuts to waste, fire, housing and other services across the city, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

Meanwhile, it is also preparing to increase commercial water rates and domestic bin charges as it tries to plug serious holes in its annual budget.

According to confidential draft figures circulated to councillors recently, management is proposing to cut funding to its waste collection services by €4.6m, while its water supply services will be reduced to core staff only due to a cut of €1.7m in funding.

The city's fire service will be subject to a cut of €3.2m under the plans, with a further €1.7m taken from the budget for street cleaning and €700,000 from the city's library service, which is already under funding pressure.

It is understood the council has had the amount it receives from the local government fund cut by almost €9m.

As a result, while it had been hoped that it would be possible to significantly reduce service charges to local businesses, with a view to maintaining and even growing employment levels, this has not proved possible.

While these service charges will be cut by 2%, the council is proposing to increase commercial water charges by 5%.

The council also hopes to raise about €300,000 a year by increasing domestic waste charges for hard-pressed householders, many of whom will already have been hit by next month's 'austerity' budget.

This will see the cost of a 240-litre bin rise by €4 to €100 a year, while a 140-litre bin will rise by €2 to €80 a year.

Commenting on the figures, Labour Party councillor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said he was particularly concerned about the "shortsighted" cuts to the local government fund and the impact this would have on small to medium enterprises.

"I have absolute sympathy with the council – they're trying to balance the budget while keeping everyone on board. But it means we are not making the kind of move that businesses would really benefit from. I would like to see a bit more imagination from central government about this," he said.

"I would love to say we could cut the charge by 5%. Businesses would then say the council is on our side. The fact is that these businesses are maintaining employment and need to be supported."

Despite the widespread cuts elsewhere, the council is preparing to allocate an additional €1.9m to its roads maintenance section, which played a key role during last year's adverse weather events.

Other proposed cuts to services include €3.5m off the council's landfill and aftercare operation.