Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Irrespective of the outcome of this afternoon's debate on the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion, a significant issue arises with regard to brown bins. Under the law, households located in urban conglomerations with a population of more than 1,500 have been required to separate waste since July 2015. As such, all households in such locations have been required for the past year to have brown bins for food and organic waste such as garden cuttings. However, tens of thousands of homes have not been provided with brown bins and cannot, therefore, comply with the law. When asked about this, the waste collection companies frequently state they do not have the capacity to provide brown bins. When they are informed that they are required to provide them, they ask householders to contact their local authority. Householders then discover that their local authority is not enforcing the regulations, which means they cannot comply with the law. In one week from now, many more households in many more towns with a population of more than 500 will find they are not in compliance with the law on brown waste.

Notwithstanding the deal the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties have done to kick this issue down the road for another year, will the Leader ensure the Minister comes to the House to explain how he proposes to address the non-compliance of a large number of householders with the waste regulations and the inability, from next week onwards, of tens of thousands more to comply with the law and make a contribution to our European and internationally agreed environmental targets? If, as appears likely, the Government side proposes to vote against the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion, will the Leader set out what the Government proposes to do to address this serious issue? Will it ensure the necessary infrastructure, including bins, is rolled out as soon as possible or will it amend the statutory instruments from last year and this year to address this issue?