Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

An amendment in the name of Green Party Deputies reads as follows:

In line one, to delete "uniform national waiver scheme for" and substitute "waste allowance, akin to the existing fuel allowance, to be made available to social welfare recipients and State pensioners to assist in meeting the cost of".

We tabled the amendment, not because we disagree with the substance or even analysis of the original motion. However, the Green Party believes another funding mechanism is needed and would be more effective in dealing with the problem that the poor application of policy from the Government has brought about. The Green Party believes in waste charges. We believe there has always been a need to identify the cause, source and potential problem the creation of waste presents and the management of its safe disposal. We have never argued that such a scheme should be introduced in a manner whereby those least able to pay cannot do so. We have argued for free waste allowances and the introduction of a waste collection social welfare scheme in much the same way as the smokeless fuel ban allowances were dealt with when that initiative was introduced in Dublin and subsequently in Cork and other urban areas. It was catered for under social welfare and pension payments. This would be easier to put into effect than a waiver scheme because by its nature the latter would be costly to administer. It also gives power to all citizens to act as consumers with the added income, to ensure that they spend any or all such moneys in dealing with the waste problems experienced in their own particular households.

The difficulty with the manner in which the Government has introduced the current waste charges around the country is that there is no consistency. There is no sense of a level playing pitch between one local authority area and another in terms of a recycling infrastructure or whether a council assists or even encourages local households to recycle, segregate at source and have such waste collected. Because of the structures of the various local authorities there are wide variations in the rates of payment. In my constituency in Cork city, residents pay a standing charge of €255 as well as a €5 weekly charge. I must inform my colleague, Deputy Gregory, that we have lived with waste charges in Cork since 1985. It is not a recent phenomenon. The difference is that we pay the €255 standing charge and €5 a week while in Dublin the annual charge is €80, with €5 as the pick-up charge. That inconsistency between local authorities is not being addressed by the Government. The possibility of a national waiver scheme means the degree of subsidy as between one local authority and another will have less of an impact, depending on where one lives.

The Green Party is all in favour of a wider debate on this issue, but let us accept that a set amount of waste is unavoidable per person per household. Let us put in place the type of charges that would discourage the emergence of excess amounts of waste per person and per household. We have limited evidence that even with this poor scheme, the level of waste being presented in urban areas compared to that presented in 2004 is 40%. We have yet to see whether that means that 40% of the 2004 waste level is being produced. Anecdotal evidence suggests it is not.

I found it depressing in this evening's debate to hear people opening old sores and re-introducing council debates that belong in the local authorities concerned. Some Members do not appear to realise the extent of the powers elected local authority representatives have as regards the waste issue. I heard Deputy Fiona O'Malley speaking of the situation in Dún-Laoghaire-Rathdown. The Minister might nod but it was his Government which altered those powers. This Government decided it was council managements that should make the decision as to what the waste charge should be in each local authority and whether the residents should pay it in each case, while removing any role for elected representatives in the process. Because that democratic accountability does not exist, the Government washes its hands of it in Dublin, saying it is the responsibility of the local authorities, and tries to spread the blame locally. We all know the decisions are being made and implemented by unelected, unaccountable officials who are fomenting the type of crisis I see in my city with the Cork city manager, with uncollected waste and the creation of unnecessary waste hazards. As a result, we have a crisis that would not have existed if we had a sane and sensible approach to this issue.

See this speech in context