Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. In Ireland, with the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities have all but exited the household market because, in most cases, they could not compete with the prices charged by private entrants. The obligations on local authorities in relation to collecting household waste are set out in the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, and, in summary, provide that, "Each local authority shall collect, or arrange for the collection of, household waste within its functional area." The obligation to collect or arrange for the collection of household waste shall not apply if: "an adequate waste collection service is available in ... the local authority's functional area", "the estimated costs of the collection of the waste would, in the opinion of the local authority, be unreasonably high", or "the local authority is satisfied that adequate arrangements for the disposal of the waste concerned can reasonably be made by the holder of the waste".

Local authorities are responsible for municipal waste collection and waste management planning within their functional areas. It is open to the chief executive of any local authority to exercise his or her executive function in relation to waste collection to re-enter the waste collection market as direct service providers if they so choose, either alongside existing permitted service providers or subject to making arrangements to replace those providers.

The focus of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is on achieving our challenging EU recycling targets, such as achieving a municipal solid waste, MSW, recycling rate of 55% by 2025. Seeking to alter the structure of the waste collection market now could be counterproductive to the achievement of those targets. We need to work with all stakeholders to achieve those targets. As they provide the service directly to consumers, waste collection companies are ideally placed to assist in increasing segregation and recycling by both households and commercial premises.

Altering the structure of the market, whether by municipalising waste collection services or adopting competitive tendering, would take several years to implement. Regarding the barriers to overcome, these include the legal issues that must be considered. Among these are constitutional issues, the fact that primary and secondary legislation would be required, competition law, state aid rules, procurement law, and waste collection permit expiry dates, which are up to five years from now. A comprehensive public consultation would also be required, as would the agreement of local authorities. There would also need to be significant capital expenditure by local authorities to prepare for waste collection services. A regulatory impact analysis would also be required, including a cost-benefit analysis to assess the costs and benefits to such an approach. Equally, undertaking this endeavour would likely lead to legal challenges by industry, including on constitutional grounds. The industry might also threaten to withdraw the household waste service and disengage with the process, with potential environmental pollution due to no waste being collected, which could also have consequences for other waste streams, for example, the collection and management of commercial waste.

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