Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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641. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the charging mechanism waste collectors are allowed to charge households; if waste collectors can now impose pay by weight schemes on persons who have not been paying in this manner up to now; if waste collectors can only introduce such a scheme for these customers from September 2017; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons who have not paid by weight up to now are being charged in such a manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32671/17]

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

In the interest of encouraging further waste prevention, the Government has decided that flat-rate fees for kerbside household waste collection will be phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018 as customers contracts come up for renewal, when the necessary regulatory steps are in place.

As has been long-standing practice, a collection service provider may amend a pricing structure or a contract at any time, as long as the amendments are in accordance with all relevant legislation, including contract and consumer legislation. It is worth noting that the measure to phase out flat fees is not ‘new’ for the more than half of kerbside household waste customers who are already on an incentivised pricing plan, i.e., a plan which contains a per lift or weight related fee.