Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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562. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a new waste regulator to help bring down costs for consumers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4418/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I am committed to ensuring that the regulatory regime applying to waste collection is robust and delivers quality outcomes for householders and the environment. As part of implementation of the Government’s waste policy, A Resource Opportunity, my Department carried out a public consultation last year on options for revising the existing regulatory regime which applies to waste collection. Arising from that process, my Department is finalising a robust new regulatory framework aimed at professionalising and modernising Ireland’s system of household waste collection. I expect to finalise the new legislation shortly.Key among the new provisions will be the introduction of a pay-by-weight pricing structure for household waste collection. The intention is that collectors will be required to be ‘pay-by-weight’ ready by 1 July 2015 and will be required to charge all their customers on a pay-by-weight basis from 1 July 2016. The period of 12 months during which collectors will be required to weigh the waste collected and indicate the weight to customers will allow householders time to adjust to the new pricing structure before it becomes mandatory.

Weight-based charging for waste collection has been shown to significantly reduce the quantity of waste that households produce and provides clear pricing incentives for households to prevent and better segregate their waste. It also gives households greater control over their costs - the less their bins weigh, the less they will pay. Clear and effective communication with households on the new pricing system and on how to best reduce waste management costs is essential and a comprehensive awareness campaign will be commencing shortly.

My focus is on full implementation of the Government’s waste policy and I have no plans for the establishment of a waste regulator at the current time.