Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a waiver for domestic waste collections as promised in the Programme for Government. [3607/15]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I refer to the promised waiver for charges for refuse collection, which was a commitment in the programme for Government and was quite clear. It stated that: "A public service obligation would include a fee waiver scheme for low income households." That was a Labour Party demand in the programme for Government, or so I am led to believe. It is not too late for the Government to try to do something about this now that there is a Labour Party Minister in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and he has the upper hand. Phil Hogan is in Europe and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, is in the hot seat. I would like to know what plans the Minister has to introduce a waiver scheme.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy. Flattery will get him everywhere. The Government’s waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, was published in July 2012. Among the measures included in the policy document was the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to report to the Government with options to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income families. The working group, which comprises representatives of my Department and the Departments of Social Protection, Public Expenditure and Reform, Finance and the Tánaiste's Office, submitted its second report to Government on 23 July 2013.

The Government considered the report. Given the complexity of the issues involved, including the fact that the vast majority of households have moved away from local authority collection - I understand only Kilkenny and Killarney are still involved in it - and have engaged private waste collectors on whom it would be difficult to impose any obligation to provide a waiver system, the Government mandated the working group to continue to examine the issue, with a view to submitting a third report to it shortly. All of those issues are being examined and I expect the report to come before the Government very soon. It is something of which I am quite mindful. It is a complex area, given the fragmentation of waste collection services across the country.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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The reply is very disappointing. I received a similar reply from Phil Hogan a couple of years ago. The Minister said he referred the matter for further examination, but waste collection charges are increasing every year. The company I am with has increased its charges every year for the past three years. That is driven, as the Minister knows, by a number of factors, such as landfill and other associated charges.

Illegal dumping is also on the rise, and one can see evidence of that in Dublin City. There is no excuse for it, regardless of the charges. Our party is very concerned about its effects on the environment, tourism, the Tidy Towns competition and towns, villages and cities across the State. As the Minister knows - he lives in a rural area - farmers are gathering up the bags of rubbish people have dumped. We want the situation to change.

I hope the Labour Party has not given up on trying to do something about this issue. Illegal dumping is a separate, but related, issue. I agree with the Minister. Many of those involved in illegal dumping have vehicles worth €30,000, €40,000 or €50,000, which I could not afford to buy. In some cases it is not a question of affordability, which is a key point. Some of those brought to court and fined for illegal dumping have, as litter wardens will say, very expensive vehicles. There is an issue in terms of affordability, on which I hope the Minister has not given up. I hope he can return with a package for low income households.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I concur regarding flytipping. It is disgraceful and I agree it is not always done by people from a certain income base. It is a complex issue because of how waste collection services have changed. I have committed to a number of regulatory reforms, of which the Deputy is well aware. July 2015 will be an important month for the household waste collection industry in terms of changes to regulations. It is not an issue on which we have concluded. I expect a report based on the changes I will introduce from a regulatory point of view, and will report that to the Dáil. It is an issue which has not left the agenda.