Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 583: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if additional funding will be made available to local authorities to provide underground recycling systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24416/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Waste Management Capital Grants Scheme, in operation since 2002, approximately €90 million has so far been allocated to some one hundred local authority recycling projects. This has helped provide a significant increase in the number of recycling facilities available to the public, contributing to the dramatic increase in recycling rates reflected in the last National Waste Report.

In the coming years, priority will be given to the co-funding of further required recycling facilities and also to assisting the provision of the infrastructure necessary to achieve the targets recently set out in the National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste. Identification and provision of this necessary infrastructure is primarily a matter for the local authorities concerned. Decisions on the precise technology or types of facilities are also primarily a matter for the local authorities concerned and would normally be the subject of a competitive tendering process.

Applications for funding will be considered on their individual merits but having regard to their likely contribution to the achievement of national waste management objectives and targets, consistency with the applicable statutory regional waste management plan and the availability of funds.