Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----but there is no requirement on them not to offer pay-by-weight either. Many companies have been collecting on the basis of pay-by-weight for years. Approximately 20% of households pay by weight. They are happy to do it, and it works very well. They segregate their waste and so on. We are not asking those companies to offer some kind of standing charge system without pay-by-weight in terms of a dual pricing model. It is important to say that we cannot ask some companies that operate on the basis of pay-by-weight to wind the clock back on that, but companies which have not offered pay-by-weight and which now must offer that option after 1 January are in a different category.

In terms of the incontinent wear waste, which was the subject of a negotiation that was going on between my Department and the industry before this kicked off as a political issue, the industry showed some foresight in this regard. We cannot have a situation, for obvious reasons, where people who have a significant waste linked with a medical condition, a disability or the fact that they may be incontinent are punished through an increased charge on the back of a pay-by-weight system. That makes no sense on any level. In terms of what will happen, the industry has committed to agreeing an estimate on the basis of the allocation of incontinent wear from the Health Service Executive. Approximately 65 million individual pads are provided to about 60,000 families, and on the basis of that and on the basis of an average weight of that wear when it is waste, there will be an allowance on the charge for that volume of weight which, if we were to have pay-by-weight on the basis of 30 cent to 35 cent a kg, would be in excess of €12 million of potential retail charges. It is about €3 million of landfill charges for the industry also, so we are not talking about a small amount of waste. We have agreement from the industry that it will provide that allowance by working with the HSE. Of course, data protection issues arise in terms of not giving out somebody's medical details but simply the number of pads allocated.

On the issue of bags sold in shops, I will come back to the Senator on that. I do not know whether that is covered by any new conditions of licensing regulation.

When we have a clearer picture next week I might write to the people who have been raising this issue to outline the results of the meetings we have had.