Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We all accept that many of the problems associated with refuse collection originated with the decision to privatise this service. Refuse collection is such a fundamental public service that it does not lend itself to privatisation. While the service run by local authorities was not entirely trouble free it was much less troublesome than the privatised service has become. There is no doubt that we have all seen throughout the country a massive increase in dumping as a result of the privatisation of the service because there has been no recognition by the private waste collectors of ability to pay. In my constituency many people, pensioners in particular, and others on low incomes, were entitled to a waiver. Unfortunately, that was scrapped. In spite of promises by the last Government to introduce a national waiver scheme that never happened of course. We now have another fine mess from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the same Department that brought us Irish Water and the debacle associated with that and which persistently failed to plan adequately for housing demand.

When the then Minister, Deputy Kelly, last January announced this measure as an environmentally friendly one, the idea was that people would have an opportunity to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and would be encouraged to recycle more waste. That is not happening. One has to question the political decisions around that announcement last January and the decision to move to a pay by weight system. There was no poverty proofing when that was done. The plan the then Minister had was to charge people for green bins, to charge people for recycling, which is lunacy. That had to be scrapped in the meantime. Why, for example, was no consideration given to those adults and children who use incontinence wear and the additional cost that would involve for them? None of these factors was thought out and we are now reaping the reward of that lack of planning, forethought and consideration for how this measure would affect people’s daily lives.

The then Minister promised us in January that 87% of people would experience a reduction in the cost of their waste charges. That is the standard to which we have to hold this Government. That was the promise given. We want a new system that will ensure that is the case, that 87% of people will benefit from any new regime that is brought in.

The kind of price gauging we have seen over recent weeks by the waste companies is entirely unacceptable. Waste operators felt they could get away with it and that the public would think the price increases were due to the new rules. They need to be stopped in their tracks. I am glad there is a moratorium now but we need a solution to this issue not just a postponement of the inevitable. There is a huge lack of transparency around waste collection. Regulations should be set down to provide for conditions for the granting of waste licences so they are not awarded unless there is price and profit transparency. This is a multi-billion euro industry. It has been completely privatised in recent years yet there is little or no regulation of the industry. It is a huge industry. We know there are major question marks about how it is operating at the moment and that the Competition Authority is examining some aspects of the industry. We do not know who owns what within the industry. All the profits are kept offshore. We do not have access to any of the accounts from these companies. That is not acceptable. We should know who owns the companies that are running what should be a critical public service, what their profit margins are, who the beneficial owners are, which company owns which other smaller company, what mergers have taken place and the implications of mergers that are indicated at this stage.

It is a huge area where there has been very sudden deregulation but no regulator has been appointed. There are many questions about how it operates. It has become a free for all. If and when we move to a system of paying by weight what guarantee is there that the machines are properly regulated and calibrated? Who is doing those inspections? We hear about the relevant authority being responsible but that is all of the local authorities. How many times are companies and bin lorries inspected to ensure there is not a further rip-off going on?

The suspicion is that these companies are operating as a cartel as they all move together to rebuff the public under the guise of the new regime. They had the look of operating as a cartel. There is a need to examine whether a cartel is in operation. As I said, we cannot answer those type of questions without knowing who owns what companies.

We need strong regulation of the sector. My preference is for a return to local authorities, but it is difficult to see the situation being unwound at this stage. Major mistakes were made. If we are going to have a deregulated sector, we must have a very strong regulator.

We need a national waiver scheme that takes account of people's ability to pay. This was promised and needs to happen this year. The least the waste companies could do is issue an apology for their attempts at price gouging over recent months. They should apologise for the smash-and-grab approach they took to the public. There is a need for the Minister to continue to stand up to them and stop the price gouging.

The Minister claimed many people gain from the system. Many people already recycle to the maximum level possible and they will not gain at all. He should bear that in mind. Many people who recycle feel the Minister is being quite patronising. They are doing their bit.

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