Joe Callanan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I intend to stray briefly from the subject matter of the debate but Members will understand the reason when they hear what I have to say. I am delighted to speak on the motion to provide for a national waiver scheme for refuse charges and other aspects of waste management. A waiver scheme for the elderly, widows and people on social welfare to reduce the charge for refuse collection is very necessary. There are many ways of providing waivers, however, and it should be left to local authorities to provide them.

The cost of waste collection has increased considerably in recent years. Each local authority has the power to introduce a waiver scheme where it is the service provider or to make appropriate arrangements with the private sector to provide waivers. Local authorities are now in a better financial position than they have been for many decades. That is due in large part to the establishment by the Government of the local authority fund.

In 2005, local authorities got a record level of general purpose grants from this fund. This year, the discretionary block grant, which local authorities can use as they see fit, amounted to a staggering €817 million. That represents an increase of 9% on 2004, and far exceeds the rate of inflation. In anybody's language that represents a tremendous boost for local authorities and enhances the ability of local authorities to provide quality service, including the operation of an appropriate waiver scheme, to their customers.

Galway city and Ballinasloe town operate a waiver scheme but Galway County Council does not. When the pay by weight system comes into operation, which I welcome, it should reduce the costs, especially for the elderly as they would not have a large amount of refuse. However, a waiver scheme will still be necessary.

The overall cost of collection and disposal of waste is now huge. The Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, of which I am a member, was informed a few weeks ago that waste management costs in Ireland are two and a half times greater than those in Britain. In fact, representatives of the grocery trade told the committee that waste management costs were their third highest costs after wages and insurance.

We must reduce and recycle more of our waste. The tax on plastic bags was a major success, and we must look at other means of reducing waste. There is a problem in agriculture in that the black plastic from silage bags has not been collected for recycling. We must keep as much of our waste as possible away from landfills.

Galway County Council has what is called the Connacht waste management plan which recommends one landfill in east Galway and one in the north Mayo-Roscommon region. Already, this plan has been ignored as Galway County Council has proposed a site for a landfill at Cross, New Inn, Ballinasloe, while Greenstar has got planning permission for a landfill site in the next parish, Kilconnel, which is my parish, to accept waste from Galway County Council and Galway city for the next ten years. Will the Minister ensure fair play so that only one landfill is allowed in east Galway?

I congratulate Galway County Council for the way it transformed the landfill in Ballinasloe. The proceeds from the landfill have given the local council the funds to put in place a very generous waiver scheme. I would like each local authority to introduce a waiver scheme that suits each individual local authority but a national scheme is not necessary.

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