Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce competitive tendering for household waste collection under which service providers would bid to provide waste collection services in a given area, for a given period of time and to a guaranteed level of service. A public consultation designed to inform the policy development process concluded in September 2011. A large number of responses were received from a broad spectrum of interests. As I said earlier, many people had differing opinions on how such matters should be dealt with in terms of policy. All of the responses are on the Department's website, www.environ.ie.

I met recently with representatives of the household waste collection industry, during which an economic analysis of many of the issues was presented to me. This research, in addition to the recently published National Waste Report 2010, will help inform the completion of the regulatory impact analysis in respect of household waste collection, which is now at an advanced stage. I expect to be in a position to submit final proposals to the Government by Easter this year.

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