Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, to the House and thank him for his contribution.

I am glad the Minister of State mentioned the levy on plastic bags. It was very successful and the former Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who introduced it deserves credit. There were many objections at the time and difficulties were put in the way of the levy but it has been a great success and shows the positive attitude of the Government.

The Minister of State referred to the debate on thermal treatment and landfill, difficult issues that we must tackle. In the Connacht regional waste management area, we have not yet identified a landfill site in County Galway or a site for an incinerator. It is a controversial issue but we are running out of time because the present landfill site in Ballinasloe has a life span that will last until 2005. It is time that all counties in Connacht looked at proposals for landfill sites and treatment.

The Minister of State has rightly emphasised the importance of recycling and I hope we will prioritise that issue. I received a letter from Repak earlier in the year where it listed its achievements. In 2002, Repak funded the recycling of 323,000 tonnes of packaging waste, 40% of the total packaging on the market last year. Through Repak's efforts, the State met its EU targets for recycling of packaging for 2001 and is well on the way to meeting the 2005 targets. The organisation has 1,200 members, from small corner shops to large companies, and it deserves credit for spending €11 million in direct recycling in 2002 and an extra €4 million to fund the expansion of the bring bank infrastructure. It is confident that there will eventually be an average of one bottle bank for every 1,000 people. It is also involved, as are An Taisce and local authorities, in educational initiatives. For example, approximately 700 schools were involved in the Repak cash for cans project, which was targeted at primary school children, and approximately 7 million drinks cans were collected. There is also the Repak national recycling week, which is designed to raise the awareness of recycling in general, and the Repak green Christmas campaign. The work it is doing in conjunction with local authorities and in partnership with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has shown the resources that are available and highlighted the area of enforcement. I hope it will continue the good work it is doing in the future.