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

I have a number of questions for Mr. Conway and Mr. O'Donoghue. I thank them both for attending.

I note in the opening statement the Department mentioned the change in China's policy in terms of not accepting recycling to the same extent it had previously, and the knock-on effect to costs for consumers and for the waste sector. On a related note, since that development I understand there have been changes to what materials are allowed in what bin and there has been some confusion about that among the public. Perhaps that is outside of the officials' scope. If it is in their scope, to what extent has there been consumer education providing clarity? Have the operators exploited that in any sense? There was fear at the outset that consumers may be fined, etc., for putting the wrong item in the wrong bin in good faith. Has there been any evidence of that? Is the Department proactive in this regard? Is part of its role to monitor that and help educate the consumer?

Looking in general at the statement and supplementary documentation, it reminds me of the health insurance sector. That might appear an odd comparison. I am not suggesting that waste is on the same level on one's health but the health insurance sector has a proliferation of products from multiple providers and the HIA has a role in drawing up a matrix to inform and educate the public as to how it can navigate the offerings. Naturally, it was found that it was difficult for the providers to be objective about their own product offerings and the HIA took on the role of intermediary in advising on that. I would say it is a more complex market, although looking at the appendices it is fairly complex here as well.

I commend the officials on drawing up the documentation. Is the appendix publicly available? Is there an awareness of that? If I was changing my bin service in the morning, would I be able to go online to a particular portal to look at the different options out there along the lines of the detail provided to the committee today? If that was an option, it would be useful.