Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“supports the introduction of pay-by-weight charging for household waste collection from 1st July, as the most effective and proven means of managing and segregating household waste, in line with the polluter pays principle, to reduce residual waste going to landfills but also to give households more control over their waste costs, by incentivising people to reuse, recycle and compost better, and providing for more transparency in charging by service providers;

welcomes the following arrangements agreed between the Government and the waste industry to facilitate the effective roll-out of pay-by-weight charging:

— a price freeze for customers for the next 12 months on the basis of their current pricing plans;

— during the second half of 2016, the Government and the waste industry are committed to an intensive public awareness, information and promotion campaign to promote the benefits of the pay-by-weight charging model, support customers in understanding how they can change their waste management behaviour and manage better their waste costs under the pay-by-weight system;

— no later than 1st January, 2017, customers will receive a dual pricing bill listing the amount of waste they are disposing of, their costs under their current price plan and details of the comparative pay-by-weight charge, and they will be given the option to transition, should they so choose, to pay-by-weight charging or to remain on their

current price plan; and

— after the transitional 12 months, the operation of pay-by-weight and of the wider waste market will be reviewed to inform decisions in relation to the arrangements beyond 1st July, 2017;

notes the Government’s intention, in advance of 1st July, to underpin the requirements regarding provision of comparative billing information and the pay-by-weight opt-in arrangements through amendments to the relevant Statutory Instrument, and the intention to keep the operation of the price freeze under review, with further legislative intervention being considered, as necessary; and

acknowledges the commitment of the waste industry to provide a full weight allowance for the 60,000 Health Service Executive patients supplied with incontinence wear to reduce their waste charges, and the Government’s provision of a 50 per cent exemption to the waste industry from the landfill levy in respect of such waste.”

I will try to address some of the comments which been made so far. I congratulate the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit for their first Private Members' time and I look forward to many of them. We had some questions on this issue last week and there was some back and forth debate with Deputy Bríd Smith. She signalled this motion and said that she wanted the Government to stop any price increases that may arise after 1 July. The Deputy wanted me to meet the industry with some urgency. She wanted there to be a link between any increases in standing charges and the consumer price index. She wanted to make sure that families were not being targeted unfairly by price increases and that companies would not use the confusion around changes in charging structures as an opportunity to bump up prices.

Since then, I have been actively engaging with the industry to deliver the vast majority of what the Deputy was seeking while also continuing to prioritise what we need to do in respect of housing. For example, I was at South Dublin County Council talking about housing for two hours yesterday.

On the waste issue, it is clear there was not acceptance of a new charging structure among households across the country, there was a great deal of concern that householders' bills would increase and there was much scepticism and suspicion around the motivation behind some of the new charges that have only been published in the past ten days. I took action in that regard. I asked the industry to meet me at short notice on Friday last. We spent at least three hours in direct discussions around reflecting the concerns and views of this House and the concerns that all parties have expressed here. I made it clear that we would not be proceeding on 1 July with the mandatory introduction of a new charging system, and they accepted that. I made it clear that I wanted a continuing commitment to a switch-over to pay by weight because I believe it is right to do so, for the environment and for households, in terms of encouraging people to segregate and separate waste at source, to use brown bins and green bins, and to minimise the amount of waste that must go to landfill. At present, there is waste coming from the west of Ireland to Kildare because there are not any landfill facilities for people there to use in their own localities. It makes sense, in terms of waste management, to take initiatives that can encourage people to separate waste at source so that we minimise what is going into landfill. Most importantly, we want a system that makes sense for families and individuals who are managing their waste. I have tried to speak to as many people as possible. Nobody who has switched over to pay by weight to whom I have spoken - approximately, 20% of households are currently paying by weight - wants to switch back from that system now that he or she has got used to it.

We, as a Government, are essentially saying that households are not ready to have pay by weight mandated because of the suspicion around the changes in charging and the potential increases in charges and, therefore, we have called a halt to that. We have said to the industry we want a freeze on all charges for the next 12 months to create a window of opportunity to be able to raise awareness of the advantages and positive elements to a pay-by-weight charging system in the future. We have said that for the first six months during the freeze on charges there will be much activity around raising awareness, education and encouraging people to think about how pay by weight might help them in terms of reducing their bills and the positive contribution that makes from an environmental perspective. However, there is no obligation on anybody and no one has to worry about increased charges in that period. Then, after six months, we are requiring the industry to have introduce dual billing, whereby households can look at their bill, see what they are paying and see what they otherwise might pay if they were paying by means of a pay-by-weight charging structure. If they choose to opt-in to pay by weight, they must be given the opportunity to do so. That is what people are giving out to me about delivering. We are talking about moving away from mandating people to switch to pay by weight and instead investing in an education and promotion campaign around what most would accept, if it is working properly, is a much better way of charging for waste and offering people opt-in on a voluntary basis for the second half of that 12-month period, and the companies have agreed to facilitate that. Nobody is obliged to do anything. They can just sit and pay what they have been paying with no increases for the next 12 months, if that is what they choose to do. We want to put it up to the industry, and, indeed, to me, to persuade people to choose this option as opposed to mandating the change, in other words, forcing people to change and trying to force changes in behaviour through charging structures. We have learned lessons to the effect that society does not respond well to such an approach.

What we are doing now involves a step-by-step process and a clear commitment to encourage people to choose a pay-by-weight charging system. The evidence is that when people get that option, they do not turn back easily because they like it and they see why it works for them. Following the 12-month period, we have given a commitment not only to a review of where we go on pay by weight but also of the industry and the waste market about which many Members have raised real concerns. We will look at that. The industry is due that full review and the Government is committing to doing that as well.

In addition, we have obtained a commitment on a specific issue on which we have been working with the waste industry for quite some time. I refer to families that are affected by a family member who may be incontinent and has incontinence wear or incontinent pads. There are 60,000 people who are affected by that issue in Ireland producing approximately 40,000 tonnes of waste linked to incontinence wear. Clearly, it is unacceptable and unfair to ask those people to pay more in waste charges on the basis of pay by weight. The retail estimate of what would be paid, if one were to look at 30 cent or 35 cent per kilogramme, for 40,000 tonnes is approximately €12.5 million. The industry has agreed not to charge for that and to work with the HSE to ensure that people get allowances to ensure that they are not disadvantaged as a result of issues relating to incontinence. We are responding with the industry to concerns that are being expressed.

We are also responding to the concerns expressed in the past week or so in the context of the negative response to the new charging plans that were published. That is what the Government needs to do. When something is not working out, one responds and changes direction. However, the fundamental direction that we are going in is the right direction in terms of encouraging more people to buy in to the concept of pay-by-weight charging.

Issues around standing charges and the relationship between standing charges and pay by weight can be examined during the review. I accept that we certainly do not want a situation where we are trying to encourage, support and reward a change in behaviour and of our actions being undermined by dramatic increases in standing charges. The deal that has been agreed contains a commitment to freeze the entire charge. What we do not want is to freeze one element of it and for the other element to be jacked up. There is a danger of the latter happening if we solely focus on standing charge and, therefore, encourage waste operators to make margin from increased pay by weight.

We now have a commitment that we will follow through on in legislation to change the statutory instrument to ensure that by 1 January companies will be obliged to offer pay-by-weight options if their customers choose that. They will also be obliged to have a dual-pricing model so that people can see the detail of the consequence for them of switching over to pay by weight. We have also said quite clearly in the amendment to the motion that if there is any breach of the price freeze, we will introduce primary legislation to deal with that.

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