Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have looked into the deposit return scheme and the costs involved are phenomenal. I am on the record as saying if I had that money there are other ways that I would spend it. However, let us see what comes out of this.

Deputy Stanley is asking - this is one of the issue we have to look at - how do we broaden the environmental fund and what areas do we go into in regard to it. There is a broader debate to be had here and I am willing to look at that. However, I want to ensure if we are spending public money that we are getting value for it, and that we are having a tangible impact on the generation of waste and addressing the issue of illegal dumping.

We have put significant funding into it. This year, we have increased investment, both in terms of resources to the local authorities but also capacity within the EPA. The waste enforcement regional lead authorities have been working with us on the illegal dumping initiative. We have made significant progress on that this year, both in terms of cleaning up black stops across the country and deploying new technology, such as the use of drones. Some local authorities are using drones to gather evidence. There is also use of CCTV. More needs to be done in that regard.

I announced an initial allocation of €650,000 for the initiative to combat the illegal dumping problem. The demand from local authorities was double that and as a result, I increased the budget to €1.3 million. I will look at new initiatives that come forward from the local authorities, subject to the budget next week and having the Estimate. I believe that I will have the Estimate to look again at what initiatives are coming from local authorities across the country.

With regard to the waste statistics, there is a disappointing two-year time lag. We are working with the EPA on that to see whether we can bring them more up to date.. According to the current statistics, the glass recycling rate is 87%, the paper and board recycling rate is 79%, the metals recycling rate is 81% and the plastic recycling rate is 35%. As the committee will be aware, part of the problem is in regard to being able to recycle much of the plastic being generated. We are well in excess of the EU targets on all of this. We are one of the leaders across Europe in rates of recycling. Of course, more can be done. I am willing to work with colleagues here to see what initiatives will work in the Irish context that will give us the best value for the money we spend in this area.