Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"(i) notes:

that the operational details of waste management services have never been the responsibility of central Government;

that local authorities have received record levels of discretionary general purpose grants from the local government fund in the current year;

the very significant investment which has been made by the Government in developing modern integrated waste management infrastructure and services;

that the costs of maintaining these services must be met;

that many local authorities have availed of the existing statutory provisions which allow for the operation of waste waiver schemes; and

that the introduction of use based charges is a more equitable way of meeting these costs and encouraging waste reduction and recycling;

(ii) supports the continuing discussions within the social partnership process which seek to identify and address any inequitable impact which the charging system may place on the disadvantaged."

I listened with great interest to the debate. Waste services are perhaps the most quintessentially local of all services. They have never been administered nationally; they have always been determined locally. When the then Labour Party leader, Dick Spring, introduced the Local Government (Financial Provisions) (No. 2) Bill in 1983, he touched, wisely in my view, on this issue. Speaking in regard to the application of local charges, the then Minister said: "There is no good reason why charges should be fixed centrally." The then Minister went on to say that discretion should reside with local authorities and be determined so that "account can be taken of what is needed, and what is fair and reasonable, and also of the best means of applying the powers in the local circumstances". At that time the Minister clearly envisaged that different service charges would be raised by different local authorities as was appropriate in their individual circumstances. The then Minister went on to discuss the general issue of waivers or the mitigation of charges——

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