Mr. Richy Carrothers:

That is an excellent point from Deputy Collins. Local authorities are stuck with the bill and the legal responsibility regardless, but they have no control of the unregulated waste market in terms of their own intervention. A campaign was mentioned and I just wanted to commend what we issued to all political parties and independent candidates in the local elections, the More Power to You manifesto. There are five pillars: one of the pillars was about waste management and we have already discussed that. The fifth and final pillar was energy and climate. We believe there is a responsibility to do things differently. The current model is anti-competitive because the State is essentially locked out of providing crucial waste services to citizens. In fact, the people who lose out are the poorest people who cannot afford that private provision.

Ireland, including rural Ireland where I live, is blighted with illegal dumping because people feel locked out from the current market. There is no argument against the State seizing the opportunity to re-enter that market and take whatever legislative steps are necessary in order to meet the want and desires of the people.