Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Rural communities will be very exposed by this plan if it goes ahead as proposed. It could hit very hard in places where having two bins is the only option available to people. I understand the Minister proposes that three bins would only be compulsory in places where there are more than 500 households. I do not believe there should be any limit or cap and it should be open to every householder to have the opportunity to recycle. The "two bins only" option means that people in rural communities would be faced with having to put in compostable material and paying more to dump it. That should not be the case and everybody should be given an option in this regard.

Having the regulator is very important and is necessary to ensure there will not be price gouging. When I was a member of Cork County Council, it introduced a pay-by-weight system throughout the county. One issue that came forward was that many householders were concerned about what they were going to pay because they could not see what the end-of-year cost was going to be. Certainty was needed and many of them moved over to alternative providers and away from the council at the time. There needs to be certainty and dual pricing must be in place. It was supposed to be introduced earlier this year but it has not happened in many places. Those companies are blackguarding the Minister. He needs to stand firm with them and ensure they are protecting customers and householders around the country, and not blackguarding customers as they have been.

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