Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 577: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the money raised from the Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007 will be specifically ring fenced for road repairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26596/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007 impose obligations on persons who supply tyres to the Irish market, whether as manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, traders, or retailers and on the collectors of waste tyres. An exemption from these obligations is available to persons who participate in a voluntary compliance scheme operated by an approved body. Persons covered by the Regulations have an option of self complying or participating in a voluntary compliance scheme.

The only financial provisions in the Regulations relate to registration fees payable by self complying persons and by or on behalf of farmers who accept waste tyres from self complying collectors. The purpose of these fees is to cover the costs incurred by local authorities in the registration process. No registration fees will be payable to local authorities in the event of all persons involved opting to participate in a voluntary compliance scheme operated by an approved body.

These new Regulations will now provide a proper regulatory framework for comparing quantities of waste tyres arising with the amounts placed on the market and for tracking the movement of waste tyres from the time they are discarded until they are either reused or processed for recycling.

There is scope for the beneficial use of waste tyres for applications including in farming activities. Therefore the Regulations allow farmers, who require waste tyres to anchor silage covering, to store up to eight waste tyres for every square metre of the floor area of their silage pit, without the need to have a waste permit. Others requiring waste tyres for genuine reuse, such as marinas, will be able to source them subject to the approval of local authorities and compliance with the existing Regulations governing waste permits.

Ireland has had considerable success in improving its recycling performance for other waste streams in packaging, farm plastics and, most recently, in the successful WEEE recycling scheme. The tyre industry is now required to meet a similar challenge by participating in a modern approach to the management of this waste stream.