Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations: Discussion

5:00 pm

Photo of Joe O'ReillyJoe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the witnesses before the committee and thank them for their presentations. In deference to the fact that the witnesses presented their cases so succinctly, I will try to stick to specific questions of which I have a number.

My first set of questions are for Mr. Matt Collins, assistant secretary of the Department. Mr. Niall Murray made a very serious allegation, which is not an allegation made against Mr. Collins personally, but is a serious observation, that there was a cavalier attitude in the consultation process to his sector, that there were meetings that were not facilitated and there was a failure to listen to his organisation. That is a very serious allegation and I would like Mr. Collins to respond. If that is the case, it is reprehensible in a democracy, especially when there is money, payment and jobs at issue.

Mr Cooney and Mr. Murray raised the Northern Ireland dimension. This is very important to me as a Border representative, especially when Brexit is looming. Will Mr. Collins outline what efforts have been made in harmonisation to ensure that Northern Ireland was on the same page as ourselves? Is our implementing this before it has got through the ministerial bodies agreement with Northern Ireland a case of putting the cart before the horse?

Ms Verona Murphy of the Irish Road Hauliers Association made the point that the reasons for haulage tyre charges are very arbitrary and unexplained. Will the witness respond to that?

Will Dr. Cotter of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, explain specifically how the EPA will enforce the regulations? This is relevant in the matter of job displacement in my region. How will the EPA police things in such a way that Northern Ireland tyres do not become an attractive option? Can she provide evidence for how this will be undertaken? I put a similar question regarding supervision and policing of regulations to Mr. Tony Keohane from Repak ELT.

I ask Mr. Henry and Mr. Collins to elucidate on the following important matter. I am concerned that commercially sensitive information could be available through the black box. In other words, the information could be retrieved and manipulated by competitors, which would be a very serious situation were it to apply.

Mr. Niall Murray has said that figures in the desktop study are flawed and that the figures on which all of this is premised are flawed. That aspect is of great concern to the committee and I ask him to elaborate.

My questions are important to the people I represent and, therefore, I do not apologise for asking them. These issues are important to the people who live in my region. Small businesses and small retailers with a small number of staff, often no staff, will have to practise formal record keeping, which is an issue that relates to what was mentioned by Mr. Fox. What kind of staffing will they need? What kind of administrative burden will be imposed? Will this aspect cause a problem for their businesses?

Sterling fluctuation is another matter and is at times quite low. Has that been factored in? To what degree will sterling fluctuation displace jobs in the Republic? That question reasonably also goes back to the Department.

I have two final questions. The charges run the risk of attracting business across the Border and, again, I am concerned about the displacement of jobs in the Republic.

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