Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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30. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce new legislation to tackle domestic waste; and if that will include a levy on bottles, cans and plastic bottles. [3608/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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As part of the introduction of a radical and comprehensive new regulatory framework to reform the regulation of the collection of household waste in 2015, I intend to introduce measures to require collectors to have a customer charter in place and to meet certain minimum standards of customer service, such as specified frequencies of collection. I will be setting out in law what the minimum content of these customer charters will be, so that standards of service are raised and are consistent.

It will also become a statutory requirement for all collectors to operate the “pay-by-weight” system as a condition of their permit. The requirement for households, other than those already on a pay -by-weight system, to pay on a by-weight basis will not apply until 2016 so as to provide an appropriate lead-in time.

A levy on drinks containers will not be part of the new framework. In June 2012, as part of a commitment in the Programme for Governmentto examine the introduction of a levy on such packaging in conjunction with a waste reduction programme, my Department initiated a root and branch review of all aspects of the Producer Responsibility Initiative model in Ireland. My Department also completed a consultation process with stakeholders on this issue.

Following completion of the consultation process and the receipt of the review report, it was decided, after careful consideration, not to proceed with the introduction of a packaging levy. The primary reason for this decision was that the introduction of a packaging levy would be likely to generate a number of regulatory costs to business and the public sector with few identifiable benefits, given our very successful packaging recovery and recycling performance to date in Ireland.

In addition, the review report does not recommend the introduction of a levy as to establish such a scheme would be inappropriate, in view of the successful operation of the existing packaging scheme operated through Repak, as well as the high administrative costs of introducing such a system.

The report is available on my Department’s website and can be accessed at: .