Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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268. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a review, initiated by his Department in June 2012, of the Producer Responsibility Initiative Model in Ireland; when this review will be complete; and when he will be in a position to publish the review in full. [47791/13]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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269. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding producer responsibility initiatives here and the various waste streams which are covered by producer responsibility initiatives. [47792/13]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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270. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the current number and identity of approved Producer Responsibility Initiatives under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2007, S.I. No 798 of 2007; the date such approval commenced; the date and term of any extensions to the schemes; the process which was undertaken for the approval of such schemes; and if such approval is contingent upon or will be delayed until the outcome of the review of the Producer Responsibility Initiative Model in Ireland. [47793/13]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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271. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the current number and identity of applications to his Department for approval to operate a Producer Responsibility Initiative under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2007, S.I. No 798 of 2007; the process which will be undertaken in such an approval process; and if such approval is contingent upon or will be delayed until the outcome of the Review of the Producer Responsibility Initiative Model in Ireland. [47794/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 268 to 271, inclusive, together.

In June 2012, I announced a wide ranging review of the existing producer responsibility initiatives (PRIs) in Ireland. The overall purpose of this review is to assess the nature and level of the challenges which are currently facing the existing Producer Responsibility Agreements as well as the forthcoming challenges that are expected to arise in the management of various waste streams. The findings and recommendations from the review will form the basis for the development of robust producer responsibility initiatives that will enable Ireland to operate successfully in meeting our domestic and EU environmental obligations in the medium to long term.

The terms of reference for the review provide that certain parts of the project would be progressed faster, and delivered once completed. In this regard, my Department has recently published the reports on Corporate Governance and the consideration of the introduction of a Packaging Levy. These reports are available on my Department’s website (). I expect to publish the reports on Waste Tyres and End-of-Life Vehicles in the coming weeks and the final report of the review will be published in the coming months.

The principal PRIs in Ireland are in the areas of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), batteries, packaging, end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), waste tyres and farm plastics. The majority of these PRI schemes have operated very successfully and have enabled Ireland to reach our domestic and EU recycling targets. They have also successfully contributed to Ireland meeting our overall environmental goals and have diverted substantial amounts of waste from landfill.

In terms of packaging PRI s, Repak is the sole compliance scheme approved to date under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2007. My Department currently also has one application on hand, from ERP Ireland, for approval under the Regulations.

Repak’s last five-year approval expired at the end of 2011. This was initially extended for a twelve-month period to 31 December 2012 and then for two further periods of six and then three months to 30 September 2013. Repak was re-approved for a further five-year period from 25September 2013.

The application and assessment processes are set out under Articles 18 and 19 of the 2007 Regulations.

One of the issues under examination under the PRI review is the issue of the competitive environment for compliance schemes in Ireland, and the review will examine and advise on the optimal competitive environment. As the review is also examining a variety of inter-related issues within the packaging sector , including the possibility of a packaging levy, I decided that I would await the results and final report of the PRI Review before completing the decision-making process in respect of ERP Ireland’s application. My Department has kept ERP Ireland fully informed on this matter and on the status of their application generally and has given similar indications to other potential applicants in other waste streams who had enquired about the application process namely that, while they could seek to apply, their applications would not be considered and determined until after the PRI review was finalised.