Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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479. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 586 of 23 of May 2017, if the review he referred to regarding an incentivised system in regard to waste management has been completed; if the situation that ensued in 2016 whereby families were charged more for their waste collection than previously will not recur; if there is a provision in the review for infirm or disabled persons who use nappies and so on; and the timeframe for the new system be rolled out. [30075/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The charges applied by waste management companies are a matter between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation, including contract and consumer legislation.

  My intention is to introduce an incentivised pricing structure which will provide the flexibility for customers to be offered a suite of pricing options to encourage householders to reduce and segregate their waste.

This approach is in line with Government waste policy which is articulated in the 2012 policy document 'A Resource Opportunity- Waste Management Policy in Ireland'. A specific measure in the policy provides that the household waste collection sector will “operate pricing structures designed to incentivise environmentally sustainable behaviours by households in terms of waste reduction and segregation”. Incentivised pricing should encourage us, as a community, to prevent and reduce the amount of waste that we produce and to utilise the value of our waste through reuse, recycling and recovery. This will also enable Ireland to meet its legal obligations as well as current and future targets under EU waste legislation.

The amount of waste being sent to landfill has increased in the last two years. Last year, local authorities had to exercise emergency powers on two occasions to make additional landfill capacity available. We must act to encourage further waste reduction in order to avert a return to an over dependence on landfill. The introduction of an incentivised pricing structure for household waste collection will be an important measure in this regard. The issue of disposing of medical incontinence wear in the context of an incentivised pricing system is under consideration.