Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the previous speakers mentioned composting. I am not too sure these amendments get to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter with regard to waste is minimising what we produce. If we can minimise the problem we are creating in the first place, we are putting lasting solutions in place. We have not turned the waste hierarchy 360 degrees yet in that the first thing we start talking about is recycling. Recycling, or at worst landfill, deals with waste at the end. Recycling is only the second worst option but it is obviously a better option than just disposal or incineration. We should be working the other way around. It should be waste minimisation at source.

A suggestion was put forward yesterday about universal-type bottles that could be agreed. Every company that produces paper produces it in A4 size. There are other good examples. It would be good if we could make some progress on this and reduce the amount we are producing. For some reason, much of the drinks containers that are disposed of are Coca-Cola containers. I am not too sure why this is the case. I know that a lot of Coca-Cola is consumed. Most people who drink Coca-Cola dispose of the containers properly but many bottles and other containers are just dumped out of car windows all over the place. One can see them on the slip roads coming off the motorways and local authority personnel have to pick them up. Tidy Towns committees and residents' associations like the one in which I am involved also have to keep picking this stuff up.

The Minister talks about a fixed fine. In general, a fixed notice is okay but the problem I see is that a fixed notice of €3,000 is a severe enough penalty for a small operator or someone who commits an offence under this section or section 10 of the 1996 Act. It could be argued that it might be a bit over the top in some cases. We have heard about and seen some terrible cases of dumping in all counties and waste being transported between jurisdictions

We all want to get on top of this and to stamp it out. Amendment No. 12 proposes at subsection (1), paragraph (b): "the person may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice make to the local authority concerned at the address specified in the notice a payment of €500 in respect of that offence, accompanied by the notice,". My concern is that the scale of the fine may not be appropriate. It needs to be matched to the crime. The fixed notice is a one-size-fits-all situation which does not always do justice.

I refer to a further provision in amendment No. 1 at subsection (4) "Moneys received by a local authority pursuant to the giving of a fixed payment notice shall be lodged to the credit of the local fund maintained by the local authority concerned pursuant to, and in accordance with, section 97 of the Local Government Act 2001 and expended in accordance with that section". Has the Minister any view at this stage of how that fund could be utilised in order to help the environment or to deal with environmental issues? The flaw in the amendments is that they do not appear to take into account the scale of the offences or the scale of the operation involved. I have come across some terrible situations relating to waste management and illegal dumps with the local authorities trying to undo terrible harm caused by many thousands of tonnes of waste - dangerous waste in some cases - disposed of in a very hazardous way and with the potential for causing pollution and causing pollution to water courses and aquifers. We want to see this stopped as well as encouraging the public to be more vigilant.

When I was in primary school which was a few years ago now-----

See this speech in context