Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

138. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the sizeable increases some domestic waste collectors have recently imposed; the measures available to cap charges; if he is engaged in dialogue with the waste collection sector; if he will consider a waiver system for low income or vulnerable households; if he is concerned the increased charges will prompt further problems with dumping which will impose an increased burden on local authorities, tidy town's committees and so on; if he is concerned regarding damage to the environment; if he will initiate a full review of the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16525/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department holds regular and on-going discussions with waste collection service providers with regard to various issues around the introduction of pay by weight. However, in an open market , it is a matter for the collector to set charges, including service charges, at the level they consider to be competitive, in compliance with the requirements of environmental and other applicable legislation. Excessive pricing by individual companies will offer the opportunity for rival operators to provide their services at a cheaper price.

Notwithstanding the above, I intend to meet with waste industry representatives this week to discuss the transition to pay by weight charging.

Given that the charging systems are moving to a more standardised format across the country, householders should be able to more easily compare the charges of different providers under the new system and choose the option that suits them best or is most cost effective. In this regard, a pay-by-weight awareness campaign, launched on 18 May 2016, is being rolled out at national, regional and local levels over the coming days and weeks and will give invaluable advice to householders on minimising their waste management costs under pay-by-weight charging.

During the period in which local authorities were directly involved in the collection of household waste, a minority of individual Councils offered different levels of discount to selected households, based on different qualification criteria. At this stage, only a very limited number of local authorities make financial contributions towards the cost of, or pay for, the collection of waste from certain households, and with the qualification criteria and level of support varying from area to area.

With the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities no longer collect waste and the market is now serviced by a diverse range of private operators, where the fees charged are a matter between service provider and customer and the services offered vary across the country.

There is no indication from areas where pay-by-weight charging has already been implemented that there has been increased evidence of dumping. Notwithstanding the above, and while enforcement action against illegal waste activity, including dumping, is a matter for the local authorities or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as appropriate, my Department has introduced a number of measures to strengthen our efforts to combat illegal waste activity generally.

Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) have been established in each of the three existing waste regions with responsibility for coordinating waste enforcement actions and ensuring consistent enforcement of waste legislation while still leaving local authority personnel as first responders on the ground to specific breaches of waste legislation. This will facilitate a transformation from process driven enforcement, structured around separate implementation of individual regulations, to one that focuses greatest effort on the waste problems and issues that matter most and to take swift, proportionate and effective action.

The work of the WERLAs is being supported by continued funding provided by my Department for the local authority waste enforcement network. Some €8.2 million is being provided in 2016 for the retention by local authorities of 155 specialised waste enforcement officers, critical to tackling issues such as illegal dumping in local communities and in providing an enhanced response on the ground to infractions of the waste code.

It should also be noted that, under the new pay-by-weight regulatory regime, local authorities will be establishing a register which records the details of households which are using the services of an authorised waste operator (whether a kerbside collector, pay to use compactor or civic amenity facility). In gathering these details from service providers, local authorities may use this information to target households which appear not to be managing their waste correctly or using the services of an authorised operator and these data will support a number of awareness, education and enforcement programmes already initiated by individual local authorities.