Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not proceeding with the pay-per-kilogram scheme which was proposed two years ago and again last year. It was unfair, it was too inflexible to meet the different household circumstances in this country, it ignored the issue of incontinence wear and it penalised those who recycled more. We are going to provide flexibility for operators to ensure that if people segregate more or produce less waste, they will pay less. We will introduce an incentivised charging regime.

The State does not control or set prices. If anyone wants evidence of that they should look at the parliamentary questions tabled by colleagues which noted that there was a voluntary freeze in prices in the past 12 months but that operators were breaching it. I have no control over prices. I can set the regulatory environment and I have done so to allow us as much flexibility as possible and to allow operators to put in place as many types of charging regimes as possible. We are, however, getting rid of the flat-rate charge because it does not incentivise a reduction in the amount going to landfill.

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