Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 749: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government when the plastic refuse collection service will be available to farmers across County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17080/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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To address the issue of accumulated backlogs of farm plastic, designated facilities are being provided on a temporary, once-off basis by local authorities where farmers may deposit stockpiled farm film plastic and silage wrap. These special arrangements operated on a pilot basis in the first instance in counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, Offaly and Waterford during June and July of last year. The service was provided free to the farmer and funding to assist the local authorities is being made available from my Department through the Environment Fund.

The collections were well supported by farmers in the counties participating in the pilot phase, leading to large quantities of plastic being deposited at designated sites. A significant finding from the pilot scheme was that it is not possible to operate collections in a large number of counties at the same time due to capacity constraints on the part of recovery operators. Accordingly, it was necessary to roll out the scheme to other areas on a staggered basis. Arising from a comprehensive examination of the information available, further collections of waste silage/bale wrap were approved in September last for Carlow, Leitrim, Longford, North Tipperary, Roscommon and Wicklow County Councils and these concluded in January of this year.

Following a review of the outcome of the second round of collections, it was announced that collections of waste silage/bale wrap were to be put in place in the remaining 18 county council areas on a phased basis. This arrangement allows local authorities and local farming organisations sufficient notice to agree and put in place the necessary arrangements for collections in their areas. Collections have now taken place in Donegal, Cork (West), Cavan, Sligo, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, and Meath.

The next phase of collections will take place in counties Kerry, Limerick, Cork (East), Westmeath, Monaghan, Wexford and Laois. The local authorities in these counties have now been asked to put in place the necessary arrangements for the operation of farm plastics collections in their functional areas. Operational details, including the dates and locations of collections, are a matter for each local authority in consultation with local farming organisations.