Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister, Deputy Kelly, pointed out, the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Nash, is doing good work in this area.

I remind Deputy Ó Snodaigh that the Minister is determined to clean up this industry, if the Deputy will excuse the pun.

This legislation is driving better and higher standards in the area of waste collection. We want to encourage people to reuse and recycle, so there will be lower charges for green and brown bins, while charges will be higher for landfill. We are not introducing a new charge for people who are already paying for green and brown bins.

While this is environmental legislation, the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, is doing a lot of work in the area of industrial relations. However, it is not complementing this particular environmental area. Some €7 million from the environment fund will go towards providing 144 local authority enforcement officers.

I think those points address the amendments before us.

See this speech in context