Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the steps he has taken to implement Directive No. 2000/50/EC on end of life vehicles to prevent waste arising from end of life vehicles and to encourage the collection, re-use and recycling of vehicle components, so as to protect the environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44420/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I assume the question refers to Directive No. 2000/53/EC on end-of life vehicles (ELVs) which sets out the specific measures to be put in place by EU Member States in relation to the collection, storage, treatment, dismantling, reuse and recycling of end-of-life vehicles.

Under the Directive, each Member State is required, inter alia, to ensure that all end-of-life vehicles are dismantled, treated and recovered at no cost to the final holder/owner of that vehicle and in a manner that does not cause environmental pollution.

The Waste Management (End-of-Life Vehicles) Regulations 2006 provide the regulatory framework for the implementation of this Directive in Ireland. Under the Regulations, a wide range of obligations are imposed on vehicle producers (manufacturers and professional importers), authorised treatment facilities, vehicle owners and local authorities.

Producers are required to establish national collection systems for the appropriate treatment and recovery of end-of-life vehicles of their particular brands. As a minimum and in accordance with the proximity principle, each producer's national collection system is required to have at least one authorised treatment facility in each city and county council area that will provide free take-back for vehicles of that producer's brand. In counties and cities with a larger population base, producers are required to have one extra facility for each additional 150,000 persons in the relevant county or city area. Producers must also register with each local authority, pay a registration fee and provide specified information to each local authority under the registration process.

Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of the Regulations in their functional areas as well as the issuing of waste facility permits for authorised treatment facilities.

Since 1 January 2007, a statutory obligation has been imposed on the owner or operator of each authorised treatment facility to issue a certificate of destruction to the registered owner of an end-of-life vehicle at the time of the deposit of that vehicle at the facility concerned for appropriate treatment and recovery.

Directive 2000/53/EC sets reuse/recovery and reuse/recycling rates of 85% and 80%, respectively, to be achieved by 1 January 2006. The latest data available are in respect of 2008 and indicate that an estimated 127,612 end-of-life vehicles were treated by authorised treatment facilities in Ireland, yielding an overall reuse/recovery rate of 81.80% and an overall reuse/recycling rate of 75.88%. My Department will continue to engage with key stakeholders, and in particular with the motor vehicle industry producers, with a view to addressing this issue and ensuring that we take the necessary steps to meet the EU targets without delay.