Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate those comments. We have raised this issue for the past number of weeks, including on the Order of Business on a number of occasions. We keep being told the issue is being monitored, watched or processed and there are meetings with representatives. Greyhound will implement this on 1 August, which is less than 14 days away. Everybody has received a letter about it. The Minister of State must move more quickly on this as the companies are continuing to do this. They are breaking the agreement made with them and something must be done about it.

I put a question to the Minister a couple of weeks ago about having an investigation into the companies. He stated:

Waste collection is the statutory responsibility of local authorities. Under section 33 of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, there is a general duty on a local authority to either itself collect the household waste in its functional area or alternatively to arrange for its collection by third parties.

We need to consider that and introduce a statutory instrument so if a company is in breach of its obligations, the collection should be taken from it so the local authority can take over or it can be given to another company that will abide by the rules.

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