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

On the scale of the offence involved, the Minister referred to operators not adhering to what was included in the permit or the waste licence. That could be a major matter or involve a number of major matters in terms of non-compliance. If there are major issues and the operation is of a substantial scale, a fine of €3,000 will not frighten a large operator that could run it to the edge in the hope it would not get caught and if it did, it would not be the end of the world, given that it would be a fixed charge of €3,000. Its one-size-fits-all nature will not do justice in terms of what should happen if a contractor is found guilty of an offence.

I have noticed that all small waste collection operators have been squeezed out. I know of one small operator who has managed to keep going, but he has another job also. He undertakes waste collection in a very small way and has a permit from the local authority. He provides a Friday evening and Saturday bag collection service. Such operators are finding it very difficult to continue operating, with most of them having been squeezed out. The operator mentioned is for providing segregation of waste, which we support.

Legislation in the first instance on minimising the waste we produce has been very weak. I have not seen evidence that we are trying to ramp it up in order that we deal with issue before waste is produced. We could save money in having to dispose of it. For environmental purposes, creating all of this waste is a waste of energy, as well as money. It imposes a cost on householders and retailers in having to dispose of it. A fine of €3,000 for not adhering to the requirements of a permit or waste licence will not terrify the daylights out of the biggest waste operators in the State.

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