Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 752: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Dublin County Council is changing the waste collection permits for private waste operators operating in the Dublin area in order that it can direct the commercial waste of private operators to incineration as well as domestic waste; his views on whether this is a threat to private operators jobs and that it is not likely to stop the private sector investing in this area when the country is in need of further investment and job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29401/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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My Department has received correspondence, and is aware of media reporting regarding the imposition by Dublin City Council of a condition relating to the direction of waste in recently issued waste collection permits. While, as Minister, I am precluded under the Waste Management Act from involvement in specific decisions of local authorities where a statutory function has been conferred on them, I do have an interest in ensuring that regulatory systems for which the Department makes legal provision operate in a manner conducive to ensuring equity between service providers. My Department has always made it clear that the primary purpose of the permitting system is to facilitate appropriate controls on commercial waste activities for the purposes of environmental protection, that it is reasonable that all commercial collectors permitted by an authority should be subject to equivalent controls and obligations, and that conditions attaching to permits should not be such as to distort competition between operators and should be reasonable and proportionate. Regulatory matters, including in relation to competition between operators, will be addressed in the context of Government decision-making on the review of the existing regulatory framework for waste management and the overall review of waste management policy provided for in the programme for Government. Issues surrounding the direction of waste should not be isolated from the broader regulatory and policy review, now nearing conclusion, with possibly perverse effects for both private sector waste management companies and local authorities. However, my Department is holding a public consultation in the context of a strategic environmental assessment of a proposed ministerial direction under section 60 of the Waste Management Act which would, in part, seek to prevent the direction of waste to landfills and incinerators while permitting the direction of waste to other facilities higher in the waste hierarchy. My Department has written to Dublin City Council to seek an update regarding a request by the Irish Waste Management Association for a meeting with the Council to discuss this particular issue. I hope a mutually satisfactory outcome can be achieved.