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

It is not the case that I am waiting for these reports before I can do anything in the sectors. We are really trying to make progress already. I have, for example, proposed mandatory segregation of waste on commercial operators, which was never there. People in their homes have to segregate their waste but there was no obligation for businesses to do that. I am also changing the rules on construction and demolition waste, because that is the largest sector and opportunity for improvement. As a result of new national determinations on end of waste that have come from the EPA, we will save roughly half of our soil and clay construction waste, which will be recycled. That is roughly 5 million tonnes this year. I am looking to change the exemptions on land filling, which should also help. We are making progress in all of those areas.

I turn to Deputy Durkan's question about being Dublin focused and making sure things work outside Dublin. This is always a risk with all Government policy. The Constitution states that the Dáil sits in Dublin. However, I guarantee that the 200 stakeholders we have consulted in the past two months have been outside of Dublin.

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