Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In my enthusiasm to get going I forgot to wish the best of luck to my constituency colleague, Deputy Kerrane. Deputy Carthy also worked well with us on the committee and he should be praised for it.

I have a question for the Department. The committee, the Department and the dog on the street know that a few independent contractors have been pushed outside the system for one reason or other. Last year the Department put out a contract and moved a large amount of plastic from an independent contractor. That contract was won by Bord na Móna, or Advanced Environmental Solutions (Ireland) Limited, AES, or whatever it is called - the plastic crowd. The levies were paid on this plastic. That is the bottom line, but someone else is benefiting from it now, namely, the IFFPG. Plastic was brought into this country, which for one reason or another was sent to the local place. A levy of €160 per tonne was paid on that plastic. It is not the new rate because it is going back a few years. Why has the Department not done something to rectify and regularise that situation to get everyone in line?