Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 1407: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will allocate additional resources and funding as a matter of urgency to deal with the unacceptable level of farm plastics that has been left on Clare farms over recent years due to the unsatisfactory farm collection system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25600/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Waste Management (Farm Plastics) Regulations 2001, producers, that is manufacturers and importers, of farm plastics such as silage bale wrap and sheeting are required to take steps to recover farm plastics waste which they have placed on the market or alternatively to contribute to, and participate in, compliance schemes to recover the waste in question. The Irish farm film producers group, or IFFPG, is the sole approved body in Ireland for the purposes of implementing a compliance scheme for the recovery of farm plastics waste.

Under the IFFPG scheme, producers apply a levy on the sale of farm plastics that in turn is transferred to the IFFPG for use in funding the collection and recovery of farm plastics waste. The IFFPG is a not-for-profit organisation and it is a matter for the company, under the terms of this producer responsibility initiative and in accordance with the polluter pays principal, to set a rate of levy which will cover its operational costs.

The scheme has operated successfully to date. It is estimated that around 8,500 tonnes, circa 55%, of farm plastics placed on the market in 2004 were collected for recycling. An estimated 55,000 farmers availed of the collection service in 2004. Responsibility for the collection and recovery of farm plastics rests with the compliance scheme. My Department will continue to monitor the scheme on an ongoing basis and specific issues raised in relation to the operation of the scheme, including any difficulties with regard to the collection of waste farm plastic, will be brought to the attention of IFFPG with a view to making any necessary improvements to the scheme.