Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the main findings identified to date as the barriers to the use and marketing of recyclable material by the Market Development Group set up by the Department of the Environment in 2004. [16642/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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One of the main barriers to an improved and sustainable recycling performance is the lack of stable and economically attractive markets and outlets for recyclable materials and products manufactured from recycled products. The need for the establishment of a Market Development Group, which would oversee the development of a Market Development Programme, was outlined in the Delivering Change policy statement and the Agreed Programme for Government.

The Market Development Group, established in July 2004, has an independent Chairperson and comprises representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Enterprise Ireland, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the Irish Business and Employers Federation, the Irish Waste Management Association, the Small Firms Association, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, the City & County Managers' Association, the Clean Technology Centre, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Enterprise Ireland provides a secretariat to the Group.

The Programme which the Group is developing will identify new applications and markets for recyclable material and secondary recycled products. The Group has been asked to identify barriers to the use and marketing of recyclable material and to develop strategies to address these.

The work of the Group is currently focusing on three priority waste streams: paper, plastic and compost. To facilitate this, the Group has been subdivided into a steering sub-group and three materials sub-groups, each meeting independently and reporting back to the plenary sessions. Among the key issues to be addressed are promoting stable demand for recovered materials, supporting the achievement of economies of scale in the production of products made from recycled materials and the need for more recycling infrastructure in Ireland to reduce reliance on overseas markets. Following on from the work of this Group, my Department hopes to develop and publish a Market Development Programme later this year.