Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are some important elements to the Bill which I welcome. Overall, we welcome the Bill. We will be proposing amendments on Committee Stage.

The provision to use CCTV in some circumstances to catch illegal dumping is welcome. It will be welcomed in many flat complexes around my constituency. Residents in the likes of Bishop Street, not too far from here, are scourged by people throwing rubbish in the bin storage areas and making them unsafe and unhealthy. That leads to rats and seagulls making the bin areas a particularly disgusting space in many flat complexes. These areas need to be designed and managed much better than they are.

The Rathmines flats bin storage area and the Glovers Court bin storage area, again not far from here, are unhealthy and unsafe. Residents are afraid to open the lid of the bin container because they are not sure what will scurry out, so bags are not always thrown into the bin container but are left there. This highlights the need for local authorities to design bin storage areas to a higher standard.

It was reported to me recently that a van regularly comes into the bin storage area in Countess Markiewicz House on the other side of the city and dumps bags. They leave very little room for residents to dump their rubbish safely, cleanly and effectively. It is welcome that CCTV and drones will be able to be used for prosecutions. In the inner city and the flat complexes it is important. I hope local authorities will be able to use CCTV and the Bill will make that applicable for sites like Countess Markiewicz House and the flat complexes.

Deputy Lahart mentioned the excessive use of plastic packaging. We all wonder why so much of it is used. Many products are wrapped, double-wrapped or triple-wrapped.

We all need to challenge ourselves. Like Deputy Lahart, I leave plastic and packaging behind in shops. In fairness, the shops I go into and where I leave the packaging behind are very accommodating. It is welcome that the Minister will be able to target this type of packaging. We must reduce what we are sending to the incinerator, which of course is a blight that was foisted on the community of Ringsend. If we can reduce the packaging and waste going to the incinerator, this will be good legislation.

See this speech in context