Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Last evening the Minister, Deputy Roche, outlined that in 1997 we were at9%, 166,000 tonnes and today we are at 34%, 920,000 tonnes, which clearly indicates there has been major progress. In regard to the heavier waste structure, including waste to energy, we are beginning to see progress at last in respect of public and private projects.

During the debate the need to move segregated collections of biodegradable waste was mentioned. We, on this side of the House, could not agree more. Brown bin collections are now in place in Waterford and Galway. A pilot scheme is running in Fingal. Funding we committed last autumn will assist the construction of two facilities, which will permit the rolling out of brown bin collections across the entire Dublin region and other local authorities are following suit.

There are those, however, who cling to the zero waste non-solution. It simply does not work. Those few areas outside of Europe where it has been tried have now tacitly admitted this fact. The Minister outlined some of the areas where this has been tried. The Government is committed to viewing waste as a resource. That is precisely why we seek to maximise recovery and recycling-——

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