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

I move amendment No. 60:

In page 36, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:

"Amendment of section 34C of Act of 1996

27.Section 34C of the Act of 1996 is amended— (a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of "subsection (7) or (9), or both," for "subsection (7)",

(b) in subsection (3)—

(i) by the substitution of "household waste or commercial waste" for "household waste" in each place where it occurs, and

(ii) by the deletion of "within the meaning of section 66 of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011",

(c) in subsection (6), by the substitution of "household waste or commercial waste" for "household waste",

(d) in subsection (7), by the substitution of "household waste or commercial waste" for "household waste",

(e) in subsection (8), by the substitution of "household waste or commercial waste" for "household waste",

(f) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (8):

"(9) A local authority may establish and maintain a register of postcodes in respect of addresses in its functional area from which household waste or commercial waste is not—

(a) collected by an authorised waste collector,

(b) deposited at a waste facility, or

(c) otherwise disposed of or treated in accordance with this Act,

for the purposes of establishing compliance by original producers and other waste holders with section 32(1A) and any regulations or bye-laws made under this Act in relation to household waste or commercial waste.

(10) A local authority may, in performing its functions under this Act, use—

(a) the information specified in subsection (3)(a) that is provided to the local authority under subsection (2), and

(b) such data as is contained in a postcode database referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (g) of section 65A(2) of the Act of 2011 that is provided to it pursuant to a licence referred to in the

said paragraph (g),

for the purposes of establishing and maintaining a register under subsection (9).

(11) Where a local authority proposes to establish and maintain a register under subsection (9) in respect of its functional area, the chief executive of the local authority concerned shall satisfy himself or herself that the establishment and maintenance of the register is proportionate to, and necessary for, the purposes for which the register is to be so established and maintained.

(12) The chief executive of a local authority in respect of whose functional area a register is established and maintained under subsection (9)—

(a) may, at any time, and

(b) shall, not later than 5 years from the establishment of the register and thereafter at intervals of not more than 5 years from the date on which the chief executive was informed of the outcome of the

immediately preceding review in accordance with subsection (13)(b),

cause a review of the register to be carried out by an authorised person.

(13) An authorised person carrying out a review pursuant to subsection (12) shall—

(a) consider—

(i) whether the register has been established and maintained, and the information contained therein used, in accordance with the guidance issued, revised or re-issued by the Minister under subsection (16),

(ii) the extent to which the maintenance of, and use of the information contained in, the register during the period in respect of which the review is being conducted has been, and remains, successful, proportionate and necessary having regard to the purposes for which the register has been established, and

(iii) such other matters that he or she considers appropriate having regard to the purposes for which the register has been established and is maintained,

and

(b) shall inform the chief executive, in writing, of the outcome of that review.

(14) Without prejudice to subsection (15), following a review carried out pursuant to subsection (12), the chief executive of the local authority shall decide whether the register is to continue to be maintained and where the chief executive decides that the register is to continue to be maintained, subsections (12) and (13) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in respect of the register as so continued.

(15) The chief executive may at any time decide that a register established under subsection (9) is no longer to be maintained and, subject to Part 5 of the Data Protection Act 2018, where the chief executive so decides, the local authority shall cease to maintain the register.

(16) The Minister shall issue guidance for the purpose of assisting local authorities in the establishment and maintenance of a register referred to in subsection (9) and the appropriate use of the information contained in such a register and may from time to time revise or re-issue that guidance.

(17) A local authority shall have regard to any guidance issued, revised or re-issued under subsection (16).

(18) (a) In establishing a register referred to in subsection (9), a local authority shall consult with its data protection officer and shall ensure that a data protection impact assessment within the meaning of section 84 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is carried out in accordance with that section.

(b) A local authority shall ensure that any such register is maintained, and the information contained therein is used, in compliance with Part 5 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

(19) In this section—

'Act of 2011' means the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011;

'chief executive' has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001;

'data protection officer' has the meaning given to it by section 88(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018;

'postcode' has the meaning given to it by section 66 of the Act of 2011;

'postcode database’ has the meaning given to it by section 65A(1) of the Act of 2011.".".

As the committee will be aware, the general scheme of the Bill as approved by the Government provides for the establishment of a GDPR-compliant register of households without a waste collection service. During the debate on Second Stage, I mentioned that it was not possible to complete the necessary consultation process required to introduce these provisions at the time of publication of the Bill and that I intended to introduce them by way of amendment on Committee Stage. Amendment No. 60 provides for the creation by local authorities of a database of postcodes in respect of addresses that do not avail of a waste collection service.

Currently section 34C(7) of the Waste Management Act 1996 provides for the creation of registers by local authorities of premises that either avail of a waste collection service or deposit waste at a facility. This register, which is compiled from data submitted to local authorities by waste operators, facilitates the monitoring of services provided and that the waste holder and the service provider are complying with regard to obligations. Amendment No. 60 provides that local authorities may use the information provided to them for the purpose of the existing register under section 34C together with information provided via the Eircode database to establish a register of Eircodes in respect of addresses that do not avail of a waste collection service, do not deposit their waste at a facility or do not have their waste otherwise disposed of or treated in accordance with the Waste Management Act. This register will be a register of Eircodes only. No personalised data will held in the database. The purpose of the database is to allow local authorities to direct efforts in filling in service gaps in a more focused manner. It is expected that the majority of householders have measures in place to dispose of their waste. Many will have a waste collection service while others may deposit their waste at facilities or share a collection service with a neighbour or relative. This amendment will allow local authorities to focus enforcement efforts on the very few householders who do not legally dispose of their waste.

It was clear from the debate on Second Stage that all Deputies are concerned with tackling illegal dumping. This provision gives key support to local authorities in their enforcement activities. The database will contain Eircodes only - not the names and addresses of individual householders. Local authorities will still need to contact or visit the address related to that Eircode to establish how the householder deals with their waste. The householder will then be in a position to advise the local authority as to how they dispose of or treat their waste in accordance with the Act.

The advantage of this provision is that it allows for focused and targeted enforcement by local authorities and makes more efficient and effective use of local authority resources. During the drafting of this amendment, my officials had formal and detailed discussions with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. It is a key concern of mine that this data is not misused and that privacy rights of citizens are protected. Following discussions with the Data Protection Commission, a number of changes were made to the original draft in the general scheme to address concerns of the commission regarding the establishment of the database. These changes included the limitation of the Eircode database to the local authority functional area, the requirement for the approval of the chief executive of the local authority for the establishment of the database, a statutory requirement that the register is proportionate and necessary for the purposes for which it is established, provision for reviews of the operation of the database and an obligation on the Minister to issue guidelines to local authorities on the use of the database. A data protection impact assessment must also be carried out when a database is established and the register must be maintained in compliance with Part 5 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The Data Protection Commissioner has considered the final text of this amendment and may have no further observations. My officials have also engaged closely with the local government sector, which is also very supportive of the amendment. Finally, I have provided that the amendment to section 34C will apply to commercial and household waste rather than just household waste. This was recommended in the pre-legislative scrutiny report and I was happy to accept the committee's recommendation in this regard. I am satisfied that this amendment provides necessary and proportionate support for local authorities in their enforcement activities and I believe it also provides robust legal protections for the privacy rights of citizens. I ask the committee to support this amendment.