Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, to the House and look forward to his summing up.

Over the years, this has been the most divisive issue discussed in the House. When debating waste management, we must acknowledge that we, as a people, are dirty and do not have a culture of looking after our waste properly. Three years ago, while on holiday, I wondered if, as an experiment, the community on the peninsula on which I was staying could look after its energy needs and dispose of its waste. Such an arrangement could be a model for communities in the future. To encourage such models, residents would be entitled to an appropriate tax break.

The biggest problem in dealing with waste is that people do not want to take responsibility for it. The biggest argument is always about in whose back yard the waste will be disposed. An honest debate on incinerators is needed. I agree with Senator Brady's comments. While I am no expert in the area, all I have read leads me to believe we must acknowledge the part incinerators have in waste management. Unless it is proved otherwise, incineration is cleaner than other methods of disposal. We were all raised with the back yard burning approach to getting rid of waste, which still happens. However, the most basic scientific studies show that this throws more dioxins into the atmosphere than an incinerator. I have argued this point with my Green colleagues.

Exporting thousands of tonnes of waste every year to China cannot continue. If people get excited and energised by the costs and waste of energy involved in importing kiwi fruits from New Zealand, they should be equally energised about Ireland sending its dirt to China to be dealt with there. That is not good practice for the future. Landfill is finished and we cannot continue to employ this method.

I agree with Senator Bannon that recycling is simply not happening. Every week in my house, the car is loaded up with materials to go from north County Dublin into a city bring centre, as there are not enough in my area. After Christmas, all the bottle banks were spilling their contents on to the road, as they were not emptied. This problem must be examined.

Waste management needs to be examined on an individual basis. Too much of the debate has taken place on a national and local level. I want the debate to take place on a household level. Every house needs a green bin but this is not happening. For example, there are no green bins in the Fingal County Council area, a council which I consider progressive. Every house must have a composter in the back garden, with large houses required to have heat driven turbo composters. Any user of a composter knows how impossible it is to fill them. I congratulate Fingal County Council on being the first to introduce the pay-by-volume bin collection system. One only pays when one puts one's bin out, a huge incentive for people to delay putting their bins out.

There is also a national public and governmental responsibility to keep our country clean. Some waste collections must be done. Will the Minister recognise that some people, such as the elderly, cannot afford to pay for waste collection, even on a volume basis? To resolve this, a national waiver scheme must be introduced to bring uniformity to the matter. I am sick and tired of hearing debates on the difference in collection charges between Fingal, South County Dublin, Kildare and Kerry County Councils. An element of conformity must be introduced.

We can learn much from young people on recycling. Every house should be required to have a green bin and a composter. The introduction of turbo composters should be examined. A real and unbiased debate, without spin, is needed on incinerators. I know of no country that has implemented an acceptable national waste disposal programme without including incineration. Can communities be incentivised through tax breaks to take responsibility for their waste? As long as a community looks after the waste from its nearest town, it will be understandably resentful. The bottle banks must be in clean, easily accessible locations with safe parking and must be emptied regularly. I have studied some newer models in other countries and much progress has been made in new approaches. Is it necessary for the bottles to be colour sorted between green, brown and clear? Colour sorting only slows the process. We should be proud that we were the first country in Europe to get rid of the plastic bag. It was an extraordinary move. People complied with the regulation, showing themselves to be flexible. That other countries have followed suit is a good sign.

Approximately ten years ago, one of the Minister's predecessors, who went on to become a famous, if not infamous, EU Commissioner, had the idea of ridding this country of drink cans, which is the next issue at which we must look. Over the past 20 years, I have seen how we have dealt with this issue. Friends of mine were involved in a huge campaign 15 years ago to get rid of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, emanating from pieces of plastic which were being used by all the fast food joints at that time. They are no longer used. We have moved on in many ways. Let us acknowledge that movement and keep moving forward. I wish this was a non-party political debate. We must all shoulder and share this responsibility and there are measures which could be taken.

Will the Minister take on board the idea of a community in a set geographical area, such as a peninsula, taking responsibility for its own waste disposal and energy requirements? The new 1.6 MW generators in west Kerry could look after all that area's electricity needs and, by my calculations, could even sell some. It would also be possible to have some type of waste disposal scheme. One could offer the residents of a community tax breaks if it looked after its energy requirements and its waste. That is worth thinking about. It is creative and is worth doing to see how it works.