John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the many Senators who contributed to the debate on this important topic. Their concerns ranged across a number of issues, including this country's overall approach to waste management and the regulation of the waste management sector. Like the Senators who contributed, I am also conscious of how important is a sustainable approach to waste management. Since coming to office I have identified waste management along with climate change as my major environmental priorities.

We need nothing less than a step-change in our approach to waste management if we are to rid ourselves of unsustainable practices and meet our national and EU ambitions and targets. In particular, I am acutely conscious of the imminent challenge posed by the EU landfill directive. If we are to meet our obligations under this directive and avoid the threat of legal proceedings before the European Court of Justice, we must double the amount of biodegradable waste diverted from landfill by 2010. The scale of the challenge this presents was well illustrated in the EPA's recent national waste report for 2006, which shows that while quantities of waste recycled increased so too did the quantity of waste sent to landfill. The report demonstrates good progress is being made in recovering and recycling packaging, biodegradable waste and household and commercial waste. However, this is being offset by the increase in the volume of waste being generated.

While the rapid economic growth of recent years, with the accompanying increase in population and number of households, is the driver of this increase it is not one that can be maintained. Sustainable development is fundamentally about decoupling our increasing prosperity from the environmental impacts which can be a consequence of it. Development and proper waste management are not mutually exclusive.

A new way forward needs to be charted. For this reason, the programme for Government identified the need for a fundamental review of our approach to waste management, which I have initiated. I intend that it be completed and acted upon in months and not years because time is not on our side. We need to accelerate the move away from landfill quite dramatically, to examine all the technologies that can contribute to this and to regulate the sector in a manner that supports optimal environmental performance at minimum cost.

However, we should be under no illusion. Good environmental performance comes at a price. Ireland leads Europe in its application of the polluter pays principle through its system of use-based charging and the funding of most of our infrastructure in this way. It must be ensured that the costs of using this infrastructure reflect the environmental burden imposed. For this reason I shall shortly increase the landfill levy by the €5 per tonne maximum currently permitted in law and I shall develop proposals for a much more ambitious approach to using levies to minimise our reliance on landfill and incineration and to promote the viability of the alternative technologies. This is being done at a time when the fall in landfill gate fees runs counter to the need to rapidly reduce our reliance on this outmoded technology and avoid the sanctions that will result if we do not meet our landfill directive obligations.

An ambitious programme to achieve the diversion of waste from landfill required by the directive is set out in the national strategy on biodegradable waste published in 2006. The programme for Government commits to implementing it. This will involve diversion of up to 1.4 million tonnes of waste from landfill by 2010, 1.7 million tonnes by 2013 and an estimated 1.8 million tonnes by 2016. To put this in context, of the 2.3 million tonnes of biodegradable waste generated in 2006, only 867,000 tonnes were recovered. The Government is committed to ensuring the implementation of the national strategy through segregated collection of biodegradable waste and the generation of compost and through the introduction of mechanical and biological treatment facilities as one of a range of technologies.

The review will not only be about technology. Its terms of reference are deliberately broad to promote a fundamental review of the legal, institutional and financial approach taken to waste management. If the review indicates the need for significant legislative changes, then I will bring the necessary proposals to Government. Inaction is not an option and the approach reflected in the current crop of waste management plans, while facilitating some progress, is simply not going far enough fast enough. We need to move from being reactive to proactive, from accepting received wisdom in regard to waste management to seeking the most innovative solutions available internationally. Ireland has led the way on the plastic bag levy, ridding the workplace of smoking and will soon lead in the approach to energy efficient lighting and a motor taxation system that tackles the climate issue head on.

In the same way I believe we can lead in waste management. Ireland can move from being an under achiever to world class standard which will see us not struggle to meet EU targets, as is the case with landfill diversion, but take a position of leadership. For this reason, the programme for Government sets the ambitious long-term goal of reducing reliance on landfill to 10%. There have been rapid changes in the waste management sector over the past decade due to the increased involvement of a developing and consolidating private sector, the changing role of local authorities as service providers and competitors within the industry and the movement towards full cost recovery for waste services that has led to increased charges for the consumer. While the sector is fully and properly regulated from an environmental perspective, no similarly comprehensive system of socioeconomic regulation has been put in place.

While there is general agreement that the existing regulatory framework needs modernisation, there is no consensus on what form this should take, for example, whether a waste regulator is required or whether it would be sufficient to change the regulatory framework to provide for a form of public service obligation and to ensure waste can be directed appropriately. A key overarching issue that has emerged is the dual role of local authorities as competitors and regulators in the same market and the perceived conflict of interest arising from this. Private sector involvement drives least cost solutions, which may not always address necessary social and environmental objectives. In environmental terms, the absence of a universal household collection service leads to increased fly tipping and backyard burning. Social equity is also an issue in the absence of waiver schemes in respect of privately provided services raising issues regarding what kind of public service obligation might need to be determined for service providers. Senator Butler made a number of good points in raising this issue.

The identification of the changes necessary will be greatly assisted by the current OECD review of the public service, which includes a specific case study on waste management, and which will be implemented in the context of the overall review of national waste management policy provided for in the programme for Government. I again stress my commitment, which I know is shared by Members, to ensure we rapidly move towards the world class waste management system a world class economy deserves.

I refer to a number of the issues raised by Senators. Senator O'Toole raised the question of traceability. While, like him, I want a waste infrastructure that does not involve the export of waste, there is a problem, which we share with other small economies, regarding economies of scale. For the foreseeable future, we will rely on exports but the points made by the Senator are valid. We need to find out where the waste is going and whether it is being properly handled and I have taken steps in this regard. An authority did not look after this area but on advice I selected Dublin City Council as the authority to examine trans-boundary shipment of waste. The council is doing so and it has stepped up to the plate. The system is more rigorous and there is much more vigilance regarding such shipments. I will examine the Senator's offer to travel toDongyang. However, the air miles must be considered.