Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is nothing being rushed through at the 11th hour and there is nothing here that should come as much of a surprise. This has been coming for more than a year when a decision was made to enter into an agreement voluntarily with the 67 waste collection providers to suspend charges for a period. What this is essentially about is the environment and the need to reduce waste and encourage recycling, composting and reuse. As we all know, the State is running out of landfill capacity and the amount of rubbish going to landfill continues to rise. The Minister had to invoke emergency measures last year because of the problems we face with landfill capacity. What we have to do is reduce waste and encourage recycling, composting and reuse. The best way to do this is not to have a system of flat rates were one pays the same amount regardless of how much one throws away. That system will end and the all-in flat rate charging for household waste will start to be phased out, not immediately but as customers' contracts expire or when new contracts are entered into.

The framework will give waste collectors flexibility to offer or introduce a range of incentivised pricing options that encourage householders to reduce or separate their waste, while choosing the service price offering that best suits their circumstances and allows them to manage their costs. There will be many different options, including combinations of standing charges, per lift and per kilogram charges, weight bands and weight allowances. Approximately half of households are already on these types of offerings, which means people in at least half the country should be familiar with this system because it has been operating in their areas for some time.

It is the case that some people will face a rise in bills. This will often be where private providers are providing a service below cost. As the Deputy knows, providing a service below cost is not sustainable. Even if responsibility for waste collection were returned to local authorities, they would not be able to provide a service below cost and, in fact, the increase would be potentially even higher in such circumstances given the associated costs.

This measure makes sense for all the obvious environmental reasons. If people pay a flat fee, they do not have any incentive to reduce the amount of rubbish they throw away, produce, recycle, compost or reuse. It is increasingly important that we put the environment first when it comes to these issues.

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