Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. There are some very good provisions in this Bill. I agree with some of the sections but not all. When some pay, all should pay. There should be a generous waiver system in place for those who cannot afford to do so. The Bill should make it an offence to walk dogs in built-up areas without a poop-scoop. Too often we see dog excrement on the streets. It is not too much to ask that people carry a poop-scoop when taking their dog for a walk. This should be spelt out in the Bill.

There are some sections about which I have grave reservations. Most are on page 3 and relate to giving more powers to county managers and varying or replacing a waste management plan and making it an executive function of a county manager. Another requires a landfill operator – either a private operator or a local authority – to levy landfill charges so as to ensure full recovery of the costs of the facility concerned. I intend addressing these sections in detail on Committee Stage.

The Minister spoke on national radio before he introduced the Bill to the House when he gave the impression that incineration was the way to go. He stated there were 16 or 17 incinerators in a country like Denmark which has a population of much the same size. The Bill seems to be all about incineration. When Senator O'Rourke spoke, she said it all. She said landfill would not work and that she was not for incineration but what will we do? She said we were coming too late as a nation to recycling but it is never too late. Her comments lead me to believe the Bill is totally about incineration.

What more can we do as public representatives about recycling? I have been a member of a local authority for a number of years and cannot see what more we can do unless we get funding from the Department of the Environment and Local Government. If anybody has failed in this regard, it is the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and his Department. Little, if any, funding has been channelled to the local authorities to introduce a proper recycling system. Senator Bradford spoke of one system in Cork and different systems in other counties.

The Department has put a number of regional authorities together and instructed them to define waste management plans which were drafted by a number of consultants and put in place. In the majority of cases they have been agreed by the relevant local authorities but where do we go from there unless funding is provided? I have been led to believe that by 2005 recycling subsidies will be withdrawn. The biggest problem is what to do with recyclable materials.