Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

This section is a retrograde step for local democracy. To hand over this power to county managers and take it away from locally elected representatives is a retrograde step. I do not know how the Minister will implement these proposals. He said on Second Stage that he will decide the charge commensurate with what people can pay. This leads me to believe that when the Bill is passed he will call in all the county managers and decide on a national waste policy, rather than letting each local authority make its own decision. He also said that local authorities were not nearly reaching what was expected of them in regard to waste management.