Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

The honourable history of Labour Party Ministers was not to apply a centralised system. Both the former Tánaiste, Dick Spring, and Deputy Howlin, when they were Ministers with responsibility for this area, determined that charges and waivers should be applied locally.

The cost of dealing with commercial and domestic waste is soaring. I welcome the Minister's indication that he is considering the application of a regulator to this area because we must all be careful about these soaring charges. I reject the Labour Party motion because decisions must be made as locally as possible. I am surprised at the notion of removing more decisions and power-making from local councils.

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