Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the debate on this important Bill which deals specifically with waste management, an issue of serious concern to local authorities and councillors. I join other Members who have spoken out against the position the Minister has taken of withdrawing the rights of councillors to control waste management in their areas and giving the responsibility to county managers.

Many of us have travelled to Europe to meet other councillors on local authorities and the extent of the responsibilities of local authorities in Europe never ceases to amaze us. These include health, education and policing. We have few responsibilities and are losing another. Instead of trying to catch up with European local authorities, we are denied further responsibility for our communities. I appeal to the Minister to rethink this issue, as many on both sides of the House have asked him to do.

Waste management is not being tackled adequately. We are not reducing, recycling and composting. Unless facilities in this regard are provided for people, we will not achieve our targets. I represent the Fingal area which has a system that works as well as it can but it needs to be expanded. People want it improved and it should be extended to the rest of the country. People pay only for what they throw away. A tag is put on each bin for collection and it is up to each householder to decide how often to put out the bin. This encourages people to recycle. If a flat charge applies, as is the case in some parts of the country, there is no incentive to recycle. People will fill up their bins and put them out every week. In Fingal, and I believe some other areas, one becomes much more careful about how often one puts out one's bin. One is obliged to recycle and compost.

We need more recycling centres and composting facilities. Many people would compost if awareness was raised and facilities provided. We should have central recycling centres such as in Dundalk, which we hope to have in Fingal in a few years.

At present, people are storing rubbish in their garages and back gardens and they do not know what to do with it. Until a few years ago, they could take it to their local dump but they cannot do that anymore. That is why so much illegal dumping takes place. There should be centres where people can bring the old bed, fridge or whatever. They do not have a place to dispose of such items at present. The Minister should use some incentive to encourage people to recycle and not fill their bins or black sacks every week.