Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the House for this opportunity to address Members. This is an extremely important topic and one of major concern to all of the stakeholders involved, be it the Government, the wider political system, the statutory authorities, the waste management industry or the general public. Waste management is truly a collective, shared responsibility which requires a significant degree of consensus if we are to achieve progress on the different issues and challenges that face us as a society. That type of collective approach has underpinned policy on waste management for several years.

Waste management has been at the top of the Government's agenda going all the way back to 1998 when the aptly named Changing Our Ways policy document was published, which was followed by Delivering Change in 2002 and Taking Stock and Moving Forward in 2004. This policy cycle was completed recently with the publication of a national strategy on biodegradable waste, which charts a ten-year strategy for the diversion of this waste from landfill. All these policy documents are grounded on an integrated approach that follows the internationally accepted waste management hierarchy. This prioritises waste prevention and minimisation, followed by reuse and recycling, recovery and, finally, safe disposal.

Policy, good planning and comprehensive legislation are the bedrock of any effective waste management system. We have set out our stall in terms of policy in the documents to which I referred, which are a good example of the Government's joined up thinking on this complex and diverse issue. In regard to waste planning, the system of regional waste management plans is well established. Most regions have completed their five-year reviews and have adopted their revised plans. These will provide the statutory basis for the meeting of waste management needs on a regional basis and I welcome the fact that this revision process is now all but complete.

At the heart of these plans is the need to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to manage our waste in accordance with national and EU policy. We are all aware of the difficulties that have been experienced in delivering infrastructure in key sectors. I welcome the fact that significant thermal treatment and landfill projects are now being progressed. It is particularly essential that we have in place the waste to energy plants necessary to ensure we can progressively divert waste away from landfill.

While this type of heavy infrastructure is properly funded from user charges in accordance with the polluter pays principle, my Department is active in grant aiding local authority recycling facilities. Some €90 million has been committed since 2002 and communities right around the country are seeing the benefit and helping us meet our ambitious recycling targets. There are, however, those who persist in disposing of their waste illegally. Local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement have been taking a robust approach to such criminal activity and I stress the word "criminal", on which I commend them. The requirement that most households must meet the cost of dealing with their waste is no excuse for this type of behaviour and it will not be tolerated.

We have a comprehensive waste code in place and we have been rolling out new legislation to implement EU directives on producer responsibility initiatives. Last year saw the introduction of new regulations for the EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment and work is nearing completion to transpose and implement an EU directive on end-of-life vehicles. We have also been running an effective Race Against Waste campaign over the past three years, which is contributing in a major way to increasing public awareness of the waste issue but, more importantly, to persuading people to integrate this new consciousness into their daily lives.

All these policies have borne fruit and it is instructive to mention a few key statistics which neatly illustrate how much we are changing our ways. In 1998 we were at the back of the class with an overall recycling rate of only 9%, this had risen to 34% by 2004, only one point short of our national target set for 2013; our recycling of packaging waste over the same period rose from 15% to 56%; construction and demolition recycling is at a high of 85%; and landfilling generally has fallen by 9% in four years, even in spite of the massive economic activity that is taking place.

The waste electrical recycling scheme, which commenced in August 2005, has been successful. Ireland was only one of a handful of countries to fully implement this EU directive on time and its successful implementation has led to a fourfold increase in the level of recycling of this important and hazardous waste stream.

The continued roll out of segregated kerbside collection of dry recyclables — over half a million households now have this service — followed by the introduction of a brown bin service in built up areas to collect compostable waste, the expanding network of local authority civic amenity sites and the added recycling dividend from existing and new producer funded schemes, will all help to drive us on to greater success.

I stress that we must not become complacent. Formidable challenges remain and an equally formidable range of resources and policy tools supported by a strong commitment from all the stakeholders involved will be needed. The new strategy on biodegradable waste is a case in point. Almost three quarters of waste going to landfill is made up of biodegradable waste. It includes garden and kitchen waste, wood, paper, textiles and the like. The strategy targets an 80% diversion, or 1.8 million tonnes, of projected biodegradable municipal waste arising from landfill by 2016, up from the current 32.6% diversion or 630,000 tonnes, which is a considerable challenge. An innovative aspect of the strategy is the introduction of national waste prevention targets which will rise gradually from 2% to 6% from now to 2016.

Market development measures are required to ensure there are outlets for the products derived from waste diverted from landfill. The group will later this year publish a national market development programme. The waste market generally has undergone rapid and radical transformation in recent years. We now have a vibrant, growing and responsible private waste industry working alongside the local authorities. This has inevitably raised issues about how this new market should be regulated. We need to ensure that a proper level of transparency exists as to how prices are set in the sector and achieve a level playing field in terms of competition between service providers. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, has been considering these matters and will shortly bring proposals to Government.

Before concluding, I want again to express my appreciation for the opportunity to address the House today. I have outlined, in a broad sense, the current state of play in terms of waste management in Ireland and I hope I have demonstrated to Senators that with policies, plans and legislation now well embedded, work on the critical area of implementation is proceeding apace on a number of fronts.

As I mentioned at the outset, waste is a collective responsibility and it requires collectively-based solutions. From my point of view and that of the Government, leadership, drive and determination will continue to be needed if we are to continue to transform waste management in Ireland. We are well on the way towards achieving what a new EU strategy on waste prevention and recycling has as its underpinning principle — the transformation of Europe into a recycling society. We in Ireland are on the way to becoming such a society. We have the right policies in place. We need to drive ahead now to ensure that we will be playing in the premiership of top recycling nations. I welcome the House's interest in the process and look forward to hearing the valuable views of Members. All policy benefits from informed discussion and I am sure this debate will be just that — informative and beneficial to us in Government.