James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Cooney. That concludes the opening statements and evidence from the witnesses. We will now move to questions which I will group. There are four members present including myself. Deputies Stanley and Smith have business in the Chamber and may rejoin us if they can. I will put a number of questions to the witnesses, and Senator Joe O'Reilly who has indicated, can come in after that. We will take that block of questions and then Senator Michael McDowell and Deputy Robert Troy who has joined us today.

Can the witnesses give some clarity on the process involved in choosing Repak, ELT, as the registration body on this? From the statements, there seems to be controversy on this. Is there a review mechanism built into the regulations at which point such a review might commence after a given period, whether it be 12, 24, 36 months or another appropriate period when there would be a chance to assess whether these difficulties were seen in practice?

My second question is more of a policy matter. I saw some recent reports about a situation in Limerick, I believe, where tyres were being substituted unofficially and possibly illegally as a source of fuel. Is there potential to use tyres as a substitute for carbon fuels as a source of carbon themselves? If we are discussing the disposal of tyres, do they provide an opportunity for fuel?