Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 706: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the timescale for the implementation of, and the agencies responsible for the implementation of the EU directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment and on the restriction on hazardous substances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24064/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The EU directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, and on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, RoHS, involve challenging requirements for all relevant stakeholder groups, particularly producers. In accordance with the terms of the WEEE and RoHS directives implementation will commence on 13 August 2005 and 1 July 2006 respectively.

Implementation of both directives will be the responsibility of producers of electrical and electronic equipment. Producers may comply with the requirements of the WEEE directive either individually or as members of collective schemes. It is likely that there will be two collective schemes, WEEE Ireland and the European recycling platform, ERP. An industry-based registration body is being established and will commence registering producers in July 2005 as required by the directive. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will have the lead responsibility for enforcing the WEEE regulations with local authorities being responsible for enforcement of aspects relating to retailer obligations under the WEEE directive. The agency will also have responsibility for enforcing the RoHS regulations.