Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I welcome the introduction of this Bill. Sinn Féin will support its passage through Second Stage.

The issue of proper waste management is one that has impacted on many communities. Sinn Féin is against the privatisation of council and domestic refuse services. We increasingly find the impact of privatisation, particularly in rural areas but also in urban areas, is that people cannot afford the prices being charged for the disposal of waste. Increasingly more households are not using bin collections because they have to make choices between whether they pay household bills or whether they eat or cover the cost of the many other demands that are made on households. That is hugely contributing to the increase in illegal dumping. Local authorities do not have the resources to police such behaviour, particularly in rural areas. This Bill will be meaningless unless the local authorities are given the resources to have extra inspectors to implement the legislation and impose fines. That is what will encourage waste management and stop illegal dumping. The increased cost and uncertainty brought about the bungled pay by weight scheme added to the burden of household expenditure and saw an increase in illegal dumping. While we disagree with privatisation, illegal dumping is reprehensible and is an attack on the whole community. I take this opportunity to ask the Minister what is the position regarding the pay by weight scheme. There was to be a deferment period of six months. During this period many refuse companies have used the time to revert to previous status quoand flout the new regulations. We agree with increasing fines, as provided for in this Bill, to help alleviate the scourge of illegal dumping across the country but, as other Senators have said, it needs to be enforced. There are many instances of increased penalties for various offences yet very few prosecutions follow due to a lack of resources.

I welcome the fact many local authorities now have a hotline for members of the public to report illegal dumping. We should not forget that illegal dumping poses serious health risks to the communities blighted by it. We also need greater Garda involvement in tackling the problem of litter pollution, including enforcement. A key factor is to place greater obligations on the companies that produce the waste in the first place. If these companies need help to either source new materials or assistance during a changeover to new types of packaging, this could perhaps be addressed as part of the Finance Bill. There needs to be an obligation on producers for the whole life-cycle of the packaging. We need to reduce packaging and encourage companies to recycle more of the waste they produce while at the same time discouraging illegal dumping.

I welcome this Bill. It will go some way to addressing the issue of illegal dumping, which must be supported.