Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he intends to provide funding to local authorities that are setting up composting services to pay for the extensive communications programmes that will be required to ensure that such services work at their optimum level. [5323/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Race Against Waste campaign funded by my Department is an extended national environmental awareness campaign to promote better waste management at home and in the workplace. The campaign, which was launched in November 2003, comprises a waste awareness media campaign and a communications strategy.

The media campaign encourages people to prevent, reduce, re-use and recycle or compost their waste while the communications strategy informs the public about waste issues generally and of the need for an integrated approach to waste management. As part of the communication strategy, factsheets on home composting and on the biological treatment of waste have been published and made widely available. In addition, the small change programme and the action at work programme both promote sustainable waste management through prevention, minimisation, re-use, recycling and composting. Comprehensive information on all aspects of waste is also available through the Race Against Waste website and lo-call telephone number.

Any costs incurred by local authorities in communicating with householders, businesses and other organisations in connection with the roll out of biodegradable waste collections are a matter for local authorities in the context of their day to day operations.