Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Maurice Quinlivan, Carol Nolan and Imelda Munster.

What is happening with this proposal is that waste is being turned into a commodity, and it has the potential to increase prices massively. The purpose of our amendment is to immediately block these proposed changes. Fianna Fáil has chosen not to stop the new charges and changes, but to set up another quango to oversee them. Our amendment stops the potential for runaway prices, puts in place a waiver scheme for low income households and people with medical need, puts an obligation on manufacturers and big businesses to reduce the volumes of waste they produce, and ensures that local authorities have the powers and resources to deal with illegal dumping.

We understand the objective of regulation and the requirement for it but we have structures and we do not need another quango. The EPA and the Department are there. I heard what the Minister said, but the EPA has a role in this and that can be put in place with regard to oversight and enforcement powers. People must have an efficient waste collection service which includes segregation and recycling. It is dreadfully neglected with regard to oversight for such a basic public service. Regulation is needed because this was an industry privatised and allowed free rein under past Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Now Fianna Fáil wants to create a pretence of difference between itself and Fine Gael, but it is just letting the Government off the hook with its amendment. It is strong in language but has little substance. Arguments made by conservative politicians that the service was privatised because of campaigns against bin charges do not stand up. In County Laois, the service was privatised just over 30 years ago, in 1987, when there was absolutely no campaign against bin charges. Even the landfill site at Kyletalisha just outside Portlaoise is now under private control. The result of all this is that people across the county pay increasing charges despite the fact that there are numerous collectors. There are situations, as outlined earlier on, in rural areas, where there may only be one collector, so the competition argument does not stack up.

The lack of control in waste collection in this country is a great example of laissez-faireeconomics. With 67 separate collectors, it is a free-for-all and the Government proposal has the potential to make this worse. Alongside regulation, we must also examine the possibility of taking back control, under local authorities, of the waste collection system, and that needs to be pursued. These things are ruled out, but other EU states do this very effectively. The Taoiseach said today that this new system "incentivises people to throw less away", but excessive packaging is still being churned out by the tonne by producers and by big business, and it is commodifying waste because people have to pay for this, and that will continue to be the case, and that puts a demand on landfill.

The Government has a choice here, but the one it is taking is the one towards the end of the conveyor belt, not the producer. It is about cost on the householder and not putting the penalty and restrictions on big business and manufacturers. Some manufacturers, as the Minister knows, have taken a responsible attitude towards this and massively reduced the volumes of waste produced, and increased recycling and reuse rates. Repak and others in the industry can talk all about that, but very significant progress is being made and we need to accelerate that.

The polluter pays principle in the EU waste directive states that “the costs of waste management shall be borne by the original waste producer or by the current or previous waste holders”. It goes on to state that “Member States may decide that the costs of waste management are to be borne partly or wholly by the producer of the product from which the waste came and that the distributors of such product may share these costs”. That is what it says, but what has happened here is that it has been placed on the householders who already have skyrocketing costs with car insurance, home insurance, family home tax, mortgages and spiralling rents which are out of control as well. I believe the Government is portraying an awful image of the ordinary person as being wasteful with no concern for the environment. This is completely wrong. We are in fact one of the top recyclers in Europe now. We are actually in fourth place and on target to meet our requirements for household waste recycling for 2020. We are currently, according to figures from the Minister's Department, at 45% with an objective to reach 50%. We fully support that and want to drive that on as fast as possible.

There is no initiative here for waste reduction, which should be the key to waste policy. The average citizen now pays many times for waste and for products. Once he or she has purchased the item and all the lovely waste that it is wrapped in, we heavily subsidise the waste industry to dispose of this, in particular incineration. Along with not addressing waste reduction, the burden is placed on the householder. We ask the Minister to put in place a waiver system for low income householders. The proposal of €75 per year for those with medical incontinence is inadequate. It is possible to have a waiver scheme; Limerick County Council has one at the moment. The last Government - which the Minister was not in, but Fine Gael and Labour were - promised one, but it never happened.

The Minister needs to immediately withdraw the proposed changes on pricing, put in place a proper waiver scheme, conduct a feasibility study on bringing back the service under local authority control and give sufficient powers to local authorities to stop illegal dumping. My party's amendment does exactly that and we urge Members to support it.

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