Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and acknowledge the issue he has brought to the House. It is an important and thorny issue for society and one we have to deal with. When rolled out, the policy will have an impact on some areas but in Cork, with 80,000 households, it will have no impact whatsoever. We are in this process at the moment and have been involved in pay by weight since the mid-2000s. It has been very effective and there has been a reduction in the figures, which is very important. The reduce, reuse and recycle model has been proven to work. Today, we are trying to embrace this with a countrywide model and this is positive. If we fail to embrace it we will go back to landfills in every county. There have been many campaigns on where landfills are located and how communities are affected so we need to move to a different model. The Minister is moving the brown bin into towns with populations of 500 or more, which is a reduction from the previous population limit of 1,500. This is positive because it affects people and we need to work on the momentum created by this. We need to change our psyche.

The Minister has been promoting the issue of food waste and he has championed the cause. This is a serious issue for every household and involves a change in mentality. The €700 that failing to manage our food costs every household will be a key issue for us and we need to make progress on it. In my part of the world, people are of the view that the rest of the country is catching up with us. The 80,000 households in Cork to which I referred have moved on and embraced this. As these proposals will be positive for the nation, we look forward to seeing them rolled out. They are the way forward, as has been proven in other parts of the country. If we can have major movement we will not have the reliance on landfill which we currently have. Some 15 years ago we were looking at building new waste centres, one of which was to be at Bottlehill in Cork, involving a massive €48 million spend by the local authority, but this is not now needed as we have moved away from the model.

An issue was raised regarding a regulator for price but we have such a regulator. Competition in the market is key and that should mean the regulator will not be much needed. Competition will dictate the market price. This issue has to be discussed. We cannot afford to score political points. We need to do the right thing for the country and the environment. Fifteen years ago the environment was not a topical issue but it is now, in every household. We have to move with that and that has to be part of the message. I will conclude by acknowledging the Minister.