John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I do not underestimate the difficulties involved but I am determined to create a new context in which the challenges I have mentioned can be met and our achievements built on. In this regard the Government is committed to carrying out a review of the regional waste management plans. This will be respectful of the statutory position of the local authorities and of the reviews of the existing plans which they have concluded. However, I want to bring fresh thinking to bear to better inform the waste management planning process. I want us to think outside the box in looking at the full range of technological and behavioural solutions which are potentially available to us.

In particular I believe that there has been too much emphasis on incineration to the exclusion of other technologies. The Government programme has identified mechanical and biological treatment solutions as having a real potential to help us more sustainably manage the waste we cannot prevent, reuse or recycle.

There has, perhaps, been a tendency to advance stock solutions in circumstances where a more creative approach could ultimately lead us to a better outcome. Ireland is well advanced in terms of segregating our waste at source. The green bin service is already being supplemented in some areas by a brown bin service for compostable waste. While I may have certain concerns regarding the approach to waste management taken in Dublin and elsewhere, I commend the approach being taken by a number of local authorities in piloting the segregation of biological waste. In Dublin, my Department will co-fund two significant biological treatment facilities which will allow for the roll-out of brown bin services. Funding is also being provided for the regional materials recovery facility. This demonstrates what can be done in combining source segregated collection services with the infrastructure to properly process the waste collected.

I shall examine the responses to the recent public consultation on the future regulation of the waste management sector. I appreciate the contribution which local authorities and the private sector are making in the area of waste management but I am concerned that waste management services should be structured in such a way as to meet our overall environmental and social objectives. I shall identify the legislative or policy initiatives that may be appropriate to this end.

I am determined to significantly advance our national capacity to manage our waste in the most environmentally sustainable way that is economically feasible. In this context, the review of the existing waste management plans will prove very valuable in orienting local authorities towards optimal solutions both in terms of the technologies which they promote and the targets they set.

I thank Deputy D'Arcy for his good wishes. I wish to share time with Deputy Sargent.

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