Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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232. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the steps he has taken to ensure diversity in the waste collection market; the basis on which it can be established that there are no restrictive practices in operation in view of the fact that all companies operating in the Irish market are registered off shore for tax purposes; his views on same; and his plans to require such companies to register here in order to ensure the consumer is protected. [32017/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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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.

Waste collectors are free to compete with each other in an open and competitive market within the constraints of environmental, company, consumer protection and all other applicable legislation.  The recent decision to phase out flat fees over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018  and provide flexibility to service providers to offer a suite of options facilitates the market participants continuing to compete and provide a number of service options for householders in terms of pricing plans.

Any requirements to publish financial accounts, including with respect to waste operators, is regulated under company law. I have no function in this matter. However, I understand that the Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 came into operation on 9 June 2017. As a result of this, companies described by the Deputy will be required to file financial statements with the Companies Registration Office in future. This new requirement will apply to financial statements for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2017.