Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 265: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is satisfied that the Waste Management (Packing) Regulations 2007 are being implemented uniformly by all local authorities and that no company is being placed at a competitive disadvantage by virtue of the regulations not being applied in all areas; his views on the categorisation under the regulations of pallets as packaging in view of the fact that these items are destined for multiple re-use; his further views in this context on whether the packaging charges associated with these regulations should in all probability be levied on the end user rather than the manufacturer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26316/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2007, which revised earlier regulations, are intended to facilitate the achievement by Ireland of the 60% packaging waste recovery target by end 2011 as set out in Directive 2004/12/EC which amended the original Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste. The principle underlying the Directive and the Regulations is that of Producer Responsibility i.e. that the costs of ensuring the appropriate recovery of packaging materials falls on those who have placed them on the market.

Enforcement of the Regulations is primarily a matter for local authorities. Some €8.9m was allocated to local authorities in 2007 from the Environment Fund to support stepped-up enforcement of waste management legislation generally and a further €10.8m is being allocated for 2008. Local authorities have been requested to give particular priority to enforcement of the 2007 Packaging Regulations. The Office of Environmental Enforcement, which is located within the Environmental Protection Agency, has set up a National Enforcement Network to ensure a consistent standard of enforcement quality and evenness of activity across local authorities in the area of environmental legislation.

The comprehensive structures now in place are delivering a significantly enhanced waste enforcement service and the resources available are sufficient to ensure that no company is placed at a competitive disadvantage by virtue of "free riders" operating within the marketplace. The allocation of dedicated waste enforcement staff to local authorities, coupled with the efforts of the National Enforcement Network in co-ordinating activities and providing training, means that non-compliance with waste legislation, including the Packaging Regulations, can be tackled in a more targeted and focussed manner.

Under the Regulations, all producers placing packaging materials, packaging or packaged products on the Irish market must segregate the packaging waste arising on their own premises into specified waste streams and have it collected by authorised operators for recycling. In addition, major producers, i.e. those who have an annual turnover in excess of €1 million and who place more than 10 tonnes of packaging on the Irish market, have additional responsibilities with regard to the recovery of packaging waste from their customers, meeting quarterly targets, preparation of implementation plans and annual reports, placing of signage on their premises, advertising take-back, and registration with local authorities.

The definition of packaging in the legislation includes material used in connection with the transport of products, and therefore would encompass pallets. However, when determining major producer status, account is not taken of "packaging destined for reuse" provided that documentary evidence can be produced by the producer concerned to substantiate the reuse of such packaging. This exemption may be availed of for pallets where the relevant provisions in the Regulations can be satisfied.

Major producers have the option of either complying directly with their producer responsibility obligations (i.e. self-compliance), or alternatively, getting an exemption from those requirements by becoming a member of a packaging waste compliance scheme. Registration with local authorities is subject to a minimum registration fee of €500 per premises rising by an incremental €15 per tonne of packaging placed on the market up to a maximum fee of no more than €15,000 per premises and applies equally to all producers.

Repak Limited — established by Irish industry in 1997 to promote, co-ordinate and finance the collection and recovery of packaging waste with a view to achieving Ireland's packaging waste recovery and recycling targets under the Packaging Directives — is the sole approved compliance scheme for the recovery of packaging waste in Ireland. The membership fees charged by Repak are modelled on a shared responsibility approach and are, ultimately, a matter for the compliance scheme and its Board of Management. The monument in question is in private ownership, and, accordingly, there is no basis on which I could draw up a conservation plan for it. However, it is included on the statutory Record of Monuments and Places issued for Tipperary South under reference TS073-007 and is thereby protected under the provisions of the National Monuments Acts, 1930 to 2004.