Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 494: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the effect of increasing the landfill charges in County Mayo from €15 to €20 per tonne. [7700/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I have announced my intention to increase, by 31 March 2008, the present landfill levy from:

(a) €15 per tonne to €20 per tonne for waste legally deposited, and

(b) €20 per tonne to €25 per tonne for waste illegally deposited.

This is the first increase in the levy in respect of legally deposited waste since it was first introduced in 2002 and the first increase for waste illegally deposited since its introduction in 2006.

The increase will apply on a national basis in respect of all waste deposited. Landfill gate fees have fallen dramatically in recent years and this factor is impacting on the necessary diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill. The practice of deploying economic instruments such as landfill taxes as economic drivers to promote recycling and diversion of waste from landfill is widespread in the EU. In the recently published National Waste Report for 2006, the EPA identified a number of policy instruments, including increased landfill levies, that could help increase the diversion rate of biodegradable waste from landfill and assist in the efforts to meet the very challenging diversion targets set for this waste stream in the EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC).

The landfill levy generates income for the Environment Fund that can be used for a range of environmentally beneficial purposes, including improved enforcement measures, grant aid of local authority recycling infrastructure and assistance towards the costs of remediation of closed or so called 'legacy' landfills. This increase will allow further support for local authority recycling infrastructure to assist acceleration in recycling activity which will, in turn, contribute to meeting the landfill diversion targets. This will occur in a context in which the previous EU co-funding for this purpose will no longer be available.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of money taken in, in 2007 in relation to the landfill tax. [7701/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The net amount remitted to my Department in 2007 in respect of the landfill levy was €32,604,251.