Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Gino Kenny is welcome and he is as entitled to ask questions as anybody else. He is doing fine. I share the view of the person who sent the e-mail to which the Deputy referred, and who supports environmental efficiency and the proper disposal of waste. I am glad the person points out the issues relating to the disposal of plastic, paper and cardboard in green bins and so on.

The Deputy also spoke about working families and the Government is really interested in giving working families a break. The former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, introduced a statutory instrument for that purpose so that people would consider very carefully how to dispose of the waste produced by each household. By a better use of the brown and green bins, we can reduce what went into the black bins and, by reducing the weight of what was being disposed of in this way, we can reduce the overall charge. That was not going to happen under the current regime so the Minister met all the waste management companies and put in place a price freeze, agreed with them, which recognises the particular health difficulties experienced by the person who sent the e-mail to the Deputy. Some 60,000 HSE patients around the country have adult incontinence nappies and there is a substantial charge for sending them to landfill but the Government gives 100% to waste companies and 50% to the waste industry from the landfill levy. This measure is a recognition of that person's willingness to comply with good environmental practices and takes into account such people's particular challenges. From 1 January 2017, the person in question will get a dual bill setting out what he will continue to pay under the current regime and what he could save by better management of what is put into the black bin. That is in keeping with the principle expressed by the writer of the e-mail.

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