Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's willingness to compromise on the Fianna Fáil proposal to establish a regulator is welcome and, as such, is a step in the right direction. However, there obviously is a period of time in which the regulator must be established. I hope that in tandem with his work with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which will provide the monthly reports, the Minister will begin the procedures associated with the establishment of the regulator.

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He may rest assured that if this does not happen, Fianna Fáil will bring its own Bill to the House.

Notwithstanding the Government's commitments last year to attempt to resolve this issue over a protracted period, nothing happened. I accept that responsibility transferred from one Minister to another, so it is not entirely on the Minister's shoulders. If, however, the same lethargy is holding sway again, we will proceed and move to bring our own Bill forward. I ask the Minister to use his contacts in waste collection sector to seek to continue the moratorium on price increases for that period of time. The Taoiseach indicated earlier today that he does not expect to see any change in the charging structure for the next 15 to 18 months. This gives adequate time for the report the Minister will seek to be compiled and for the regulator to be established.

Unfortunately, Sinn Féin has failed to understand the marketplace that exists at present. It seems to think the decision that was taken effectively removed the capacity of waste operators to increase charges. A number of the 68 waste collection operators increased their prices over the past 12 months. Sinn Féin would like to present this as being some kind of cataclysmic event but it is not. The free market has dictated that some have raised their prices. If Sinn Féin was as serious about protecting consumers as it says it is, it would support the introduction of the regulator, as set out by the Minister, because it is in the long-term interest to ensure that price gouging does not take place.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae would be wise to look at the record of what was said. No one referred to any of those involved in the waste collection sector as being gougers. Price gouging is different in meaning to the colloquial term "gouger". What was said was that there are some unscrupulous waste collectors in the sector. Nobody ever mentioned the Deputy's local operator. If I were to speak about promoting the interests of parties in this regard, Clean Ireland, which is based in Clare, is one of the finest in terms of embracing modern technology, collecting on the basis of pay-by-weight and spearheading the introduction of new technologies. It is outstanding. If the rest of the sector was half as well versed in the development of technology as the O'Donoghue brothers were in developing Clean Ireland, there would be no need for us to be here today. Sadly, there are some who reside outside the group that advocates for the industry and do not participate in it. We must put that kind of a structure in place.

Sinn Féin would also be wise to recognise there is a compromise and the Minister proposes to ensure consideration is given to families experiencing financial hardship. This should be addressed as part of a social welfare Bill rather than attempting to do it through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. However, since the Minister is responding on behalf of the Government and this is a Government amendment, I am pleased we achieved this level of success.

In so far as is possible, the price freeze must, with the support of the mainstream industry, remain in place. We must ensure that, in tandem with the work the Minister has undertaken with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, we begin the process to establish a regulator and that we all work towards the main objective, which is to change the behaviour of how we dispose of our waste in a manner that gives certainty to consumers so that if they make this shift and decide to participate in the better management of waste, they will not be penalised and gouged by unscrupulous operators.

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