Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Is the Minister not achieving the direct opposite of what he wanted to achieve? We have an increasing problem in our region of dumping on amenity lands over many of the Dublin constituencies. With the major charges on the green bin, people perceive now that prices are constantly increasing and that the market is dominated by a cartel, a small group of companies. I note, for example, that the Minister's own Price Monitoring Group states that of eight companies that changed their prices, six increased them. I note also that there are about 60 waste management companies, yet the Price Monitoring Group is monitoring approximately 26 of them, which is less than half. Has the Minister given any consideration to having a maximum percentage to ensure that larger monthly costs cannot be imposed on consumers? This is a bit like another part of the Minister's Department, namely, the communications area. For ordinary consumers, tariffs from companies, at least one of which seemed to have its headquarters in the Isle of Man, not in this country, are incredibly complicated and difficult. Inexorably, prices are rising, and that often discourages rather than encourages people to recycle.

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