Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I will be taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, and I thank Senator Mooney for raising this issue. The environmental management of waste tyres was highlighted in a recent "Prime Time Investigates" programme and, at the time, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, expressed his concerns regarding the particular cases highlighted. He also asked the office of environmental enforcement within the Environmental Protection Agency to prepare an urgent report on the issues arising.

Ireland's enforcement regime in the waste sector has been strengthened considerably in recent years in respect of powers, structures and resources. Significant progress has been made by the relevant statutory agencies in dealing with illegal waste activity. In particular, since the establishment of the office of environmental enforcement in 2003, enforcement has been better structured through the establishment of a national enforcement network. The office of environmental enforcement and the enforcement network have greatly raised awareness and brought about better practice and a more co-ordinated and consistent approach to environmental enforcement by the relevant authorities. The latest statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency confirm a significant level of enforcement, with local authorities alone carrying out in excess of 33,000 waste inspections in 2008. The Minister is committed to ensuring an adequate enforcement response to illegal waste activity and in this regard has provided continuing support from the environment fund towards enforcement staffing costs. More than €7.5 million has been utilised to support approximately 120 additional local authority enforcement personnel and a greatly enhanced response on the ground.

Two ministerial policy directions also have been issued, in May 2005 and July 2008, respectively, providing guidance where illegal deposition is discovered. The policy direction issued in 2005 sets the standard in terms of the expected response from the regulatory authorities which are obliged to ensure the necessary remedial measures will be taken in order that sites are restored and waste illegally deposited is appropriately disposed of or recovered. The 2008 direction deals with the use of sanctions to ensure effective actions against those involved in unauthorised waste activities.

The system in place for dealing with waste tyres has been largely conceived and designed by economic operators in the tyre industry itself on an assurance that it would deliver the required results. On this basis, two collective compliance schemes, Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme Limited and Tyre Waste Management Limited operate as approved bodies under the regulations. While giving these schemes a reasonable chance, the Minister is not prepared to tolerate a system that does not work effectively and is open to abuse. He has, therefore, asked his Department to engage urgently with tyre industry stakeholders to review the situation, and a meeting in this regard was held on 20 May 2010. The industry was instructed to revert to the Department by mid-July with a joint working proposal from all stakeholders with actions, targets, key performance indicators and a guarantee that the industry can implement an effective tracking system. The industry is aware that the Minister will consider introducing a full producer responsibility initiative if the situation does not improve.