John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, whose opening remarks I did not hear. We have had a number of debates on the important issue of waste management in my four years in the Seanad.

As a former member of a local authority, I am well aware of the difficulties that exist throughout the country with regard to the disposal of waste. A number of Senators on both sides have referred to the considerable change in attitude that has occurred nationally over the course of the past five to eight years. Some seven or eight years ago, there were very low levels of recycling, at approximately 2% or 3%, but now the rate is between 20% and 30% in some categories. This is because of the great change in the attitude of ordinary members of the public. I welcome this fully as it demonstrates how people's attitudes can change if they are presented with the full facts and realise their attitudes need to change.

I wish to emphasise a number of points to which previous speakers have referred. I refer to illegal dumping, a pet hate of mine. Improvements in recycling have coincided with a worsening of illegal dumping. Sofas, mattresses and washing machines are strewn on quiet roads and forested areas throughout the country. This is a grave issue facing the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities. I support Senator O'Toole's suggestion that a free collection for larger products take place every few months. This could alleviate the incidence of illegal dumping.

I live in a rural area and a State forest covering thousands of acres lies between my house and Waterford city. Rubbish is dumped there on a weekly basis and I continually contact Coillte and the local authorities to clean it up. As soon as it is clean, more rubbish is dumped. Perhaps we need to name and shame those convicted of illegal dumping or we could introduce the scheme proposed by Senator O'Toole. We must do something dramatic to end this scourge.

The Government is proposing to build incinerators around the country, to which I am implacably opposed. I have no scientific proof of the damage caused by incineration although studies suggest possible negative effects. The crucial reason for my opposition is that building thermal treatment plants will remove the incentive to reduce, reuse and recycle the waste people produce. These incinerators will be privately built, owned and operated and will require a continuous stream of waste in order to be successful. If this happens, the incentive to reduce waste will be removed. The majority of households in my area do not put out a bin every week. The Government has put resources into bring centres and bottle banks throughout the country and we cannot reverse engines now by building incinerators that will need a constant stream of waste.

Those in favour of incineration suggest it will remove the need for landfill but that is not the case. Residual waste, in the form of ash, will have to be placed in a landfill and will be more toxic than what we store in landfill at present.