Mr. James Fitzgerald:

Under the current arrangement, I am free to operate where my facility permit allows, locally. My collector's permit allows me to operate in about four to five counties.

The constraints in that regard are associated more with the original collection permits and licence in respect of the National Waste Collection Permit Office, NWCPO, in Offaly and the local authorities themselves. I am not really constrained, in the sense that I could operate nationally but the economics of doing so are counterproductive. It is a business with a certain footprint, and it will not extend beyond that because the cost of haulage is a killer.

On the stockpiles of plastic around the country, all the independent operators have stockpiles of plastic. These are estimated to be 10,000 tonnes among contractors in the private sector That is the scale of the situation. It has been a difficult market and the stockpile is not only a concern for us. I understand the IFFPG also has some stockpiles but I cannot confirm that.