Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 53:

In page 25, to delete line 22 and substitute the following: “(iv) an offence under section 34(10A), or

(v) an offence under section 39(9), in so far as the offence consists of a contravention of a provision of regulations made under section 39(4) prohibiting, other than in accordance with those regulations, the recovery or disposal in a specified manner of a specified class or classes of waste, including a class or classes of household waste,

or”.

Fixed payment notices are an administrative alternative to court proceedings and can assist with waste enforcement efforts. They provide an alternative enforcement tool to the courts and a more flexible means of addressing low-level non-compliance, facilitating greater levels of enforcement and increased compliance at local level. We are used to fixed payment notices from traffic laws and so on. The Bill already provides for new fixed payment notices in respect of offences under the waste tyres extended producer responsibility regulations and in respect of breaches of a waste collection permit. These amendments to section 10B of the Waste Management Act 1996 provide for two additional fixed payment notices in relation to existing offences under the Waste Management Act 1996.

First, I have provided for a fixed payment notice for a breach of section 34(10A). Under this section, it is an offence to furnish false or misleading information to a local authority under section 34, which relates to waste collection permits. I am also providing that a local authority may issue a fixed payment notice for non-compliance with a condition in a waste facility permit. The Waste Management Act 1996 provides that a person shall not dispose of, or undertake the recovery of, waste at a facility unless they have a waste licence. Waste licences are issued by the EPA. However, a waste licence is not required if the person carrying out the disposal or recovery of the waste complies with specified conditions in relation to the carrying out of such recovery or disposal. These conditions are set out in waste facility permits. Where a person does not comply with the conditions of a waste facility permit, they are guilty of an offence. The proposed amendment creates a fixed payment notice in respect of a contravention of a condition in a waste facility permit. This may be confusing. A waste facility permit could, for example, be issued to someone who is temporarily storing WEEE waste but not disposing of it before it goes on to another facility for disposal. That is why it is managed through permits rather than licences.

These fixed payment notices are all linked to existing offences under current legislation. I am not creating any new offences. This will facilitate local authorities to impose and provide more proportionate responses to littering and illegal dumping. It also means that the first recourse is not the courts, which could be a more costly proposition for everyone concerned. That is where I am coming from with regard to these amendments.