Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for inviting the representatives and for giving the opportunity to scrutinise this statutory instrument. I had requested this during the summer. Having listened to the questions here this evening I am glad that I requested the scrutiny because there still seems to be a number of outstanding issues. It is quite alarming that even at this stage, despite the fact that the working group was in progress for in excess of three years, it is still not able to answer each question. Some of the answers that are given say this or that will be worked on or worked out as the scheme transpires or as it is implemented. There appears to have been quite a lack of consultation with the key stakeholders - a number of whom are here today - and the only one that I can gather is any way supportive of the proposal is the Association for Tyre Retail Standards, ATRS, even though it has identified a number of queries around enforcement and so on. Will Mr. Fox tell the committee how long has the association been formed? He made a reference to the association being a breakaway group from another existing body. How many members has the ATRS? Mr. Fox said that he has a mailing list of 500. I have a considerable mailing list but I would not consider them all to be members of my political party. There is quite a difference between a mailing list and who is a paid-up member of an organisation. I would be interested to know how may actual members there are in the organisation.

This whole issue came about because there was and is a problem around the illegal dumping of tyres. It must be tackled. It is a blight on our landscape, it is a huge environmental issue and it has to be tackled. Why did Repak ELT not go out to tender? I certainly did not get a satisfactory answer on that. Reference was made to €6.5 million allocated to Repak ELT from an administrative aspect. Perhaps the witnesses could respond on that issues. Mr. Collins said that €1 million would be spent this year in collecting waste tyres and that 750,000 waste tyres were collected last year. To my mind that is around €1.33 per tyre. If the tyre can be collected for €1.33, where did the witnesses get the figure of €3.50 per tyre? Without going out to tender the persons who will pay these additional costs are the men and women who buy the tyres. That is who will pick up the costs. I note the presence here of Mr. Frank McDonagh, who is a compliant operator. He provides 30 good jobs in my home town of Mullingar. He pays his taxes and does everything right but from what Mr. Collins alluded to earlier, there is nothing in this scheme that will deter those who are non-compliant. There is nothing here to catch the cowboy. Again, the person who will be caught here and who will face additional increased charges is the person who is being compliant year in and year out. There appears to be no difference there.

My colleague Senator McDowell spoke about the North and I also am somewhat concerned about the lack of economic studies pertaining to the North-South Border element. It is not just about the North and the South of Ireland. We are a very small island but when one looks at the haulage industry it is an international industry. Those people are going to be able to avail of cheaper tyres on the Continent, in the UK or wherever. What will that do to our industry here? There does not appear to be any relevance or any reference to that. The witnesses have said that it is only currency fluctuations but it is not just about currency fluctuations. It is okay for every one of us who is around the outer body of this committee room because we are civil servants who get paid weekly or monthly. Most of the people at the front of the room who work in this industry and with hauliers are working on very small margins. Any new costs that are introduced unnecessarily have a consequence on their businesses and on the jobs they supply and provide in their respective communities. It is disappointing, on listening to what is being said here this evening, that this aspect does not take any cognisance. This working group has been in operation for three years and we have yet to establish what the vEMCs are for agricultural use tyres. We have yet to establish what the penalties are for persons who are non-compliant. When speaking of what was going to be done, Mr. Collins said it was going to be rolled out as a priority.

I would have imagined that non-compliance and the associated penalties would have been among the first things to be considered. It is disappointing that three years into this operation, the witnesses do not have the answers on penalties. We do not know why it did not go out to tender. It is acknowledged that 750,000 tyres were collected last year at a cost of €1 million yet there is now going to be a charge of €3.44, which is over 250% more. Why is that? Why are we charging €11 for tyres on the haulage vehicles?

How can we have confidence that this commercially sensitive information is not going to get into the wrong hands? It boils down to the fact that a very bureaucratic system is going to implemented to target the cowboys. There are cowboys out there who need to be targeted and penalised. However, the exchange a few moments ago demonstrated that if those cowboys want to continue as they are now, that is, going across the Border to buy their tyres and then undercutting compliant operators in the Republic, we do not even know what penalties are going to be introduced to ensure they cannot do so.

The Department needs to revisit this issue and to work with the stakeholders. All the stakeholders are unified in wanting a fit-for-purpose system that will eradicate non-compliant operators and the scourge of illegal dumping in our countryside. However, the system must not be overly costly or bureaucratic as this could potentially cost us jobs in our economy.