Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I expect these discussions to conclude shortly.

I wish to make a further point, which I think is appropriate in the context of this debate, about the private sector and the way it has operated. In recent years we have witnessed the emergence of an extensive and vibrant private waste management industry working alongside local authorities. This is to be welcomed but it brings new issues to the surface. I am determined to ensure that equity and best practice prevail in the delivery of all waste management services. In this regard, I am unhappy at an apparent lack of flexibility and customer response in the case of some private operators. In cases which have come to my attention, customers feel that their complaints are being ignored, that operators are too inflexible or that they adopt a "take it or leave it" attitude to complaints. This is not acceptable.

Waste management is unique among the commercially provided public utilities in not having a regulator. Regulators were put in place in telecommunications, electricity and gas. When the Waste Management Act 1996 was introduced, no consideration appears to have been given to appointing a regulator. I do not say this to fault the author of the legislation. The concept of regulation was novel at that stage and private sector provision of waste services was in its infancy. All of that has dramatically changed and I am giving consideration to the additional regulatory arrangements that may be necessary to ensure price competition, best practice, good customer service and to guard against monopolistic practices, whether by local authorities or private operators. This will ensure that those paying waste charges can be confident of getting value for money.

I reiterate that it has never been, nor should it be, the practice for central Government to determine operational matters in regard to waste management. Waste management is one of the oldest services provided by local authorities. Working to national and European Union environmental standards, local authorities should be free to tailor services to local needs. The Labour Party motion would involve an unacceptable degree of interference with this principle which, as already stated, has been articulated by successive Ministers for the Environment, including those from the Deputy's party.

Deputy Gilmore represents Dún Laoghaire. The new waste charges in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council were passed without debate last month.

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