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

I thank the Deputy. The necessary regulatory steps have already been put in place to phase out flat-rate fees for household waste collection. The permits of household waste collectors have been amended in order that existing customers who are seeking to renew their contracts or new customers are not offered flat-rate fees. It is worth noting that this measure is not "new" for about half of kerbside household waste customers because they are already on an incentivised usage pricing plan - in other words, a plan that contains a per-lift or weight-related fee. As I announced in last June, mandatory per-kilogram pay-by-weight charging is not being introduced.

This phasing out of flat-rate fees is consistent with national waste policy. Research has shown that all-in flat-rate fees are the least successful pricing structure in preventing waste. However, it is a necessary measure because twice in 2016, local authorities had to exercise emergency powers to make additional landfill capacity available. If emergency measures had not been taken, there would have been no way for waste collectors to continue collecting household bins. In the past two years, the amount of waste disposed of in landfills has increased. We must act now to avert a return to over-dependence on landfill across Ireland.

Furthermore, Ireland faces challenging EU targets to achieve by 2020, including a household waste recycling rate of 50%. Failure to achieve such targets could leave the State open to infringement proceedings and potentially punitive fines. More ambitious waste objectives for 2025 and 2030 are currently being negotiated at EU level.

When introducing the measure to phase out flat-rate fees, the Government gave a commitment to consumers to carefully monitor the transition in the sector. Accordingly, a household waste collection price monitoring group has been established. That group has begun the process of tracking the rates charged by household waste collectors. In addition, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is undertaking an independent study of the market that will, inter alia, assess the nature and scale of consumer and operator issues in the household waste collection market and consider whether the introduction of an enhanced regulatory regime could efficiently address these issues in the short and long term.

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