Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Deputy would not expect me to make a policy statement on waste management today when I have already stated I will consult parliamentary Members and agree a waste policy at the end of the year. If he is asking me to make a decision now, I will, but I would like to consult people about it. The Deputy was a member of a local authority which, in conjunction with others, had to draw up a regional waste management strategy. It was up to local authority members and members of regional authorities to help in drawing up such a strategy by way of a devolved function. Unfortunately, at the time councillors abdicated responsibility on the direction they wanted to take in devising a waste strategy and ultimately the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was forced to abandon the process of consultation and take responsibility for decision making from local authority members and give managers in counties and regions the necessary powers to make decisions without reference to those who had been democratically elected. I do not want to go down that road either. If people want to make decisions about the future of waste policy, to have devolved functions and responsibility restored to them, they must equally be accountable for the decisions they make. I will set out the process by which this can be achieved by the end of the year.

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