Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

In Galway city we started off by separating our waste into seven different categories. We succeeded so well that we have now reduced this to three bins per house, a composting bin, a small landfill bin which will be charged for by weight thereby providing people with an incentive to reduce their waste further, and a recycling and reusable bin. This, as I said, has reduced the amount going to landfill in Galway city by 60%. The same will be achieved in Galway county and in any county that wants to work this way. There is goodwill towards this system and the people respond to the lead which local government authorities give in this regard.

The Government is failing greatly with regard to the next step after areas achieve the 50% reduction in waste. The Minister said some countries have got that far and have not gone further. The solution to the next step lies with the Government. It is up to the Government to support facilities for the reuse and recycling of the other 50%.

See this speech in context