Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1316. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the proposed €1.5 million reduction in landfill fees offered to waste companies to offset the cost of an awareness campaign on pay by weight; the total of the reduction provided to each waste collection company in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36648/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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As I set out in reply to Question 1026 of 13 July, 2017, proposals at that time under consideration concerning a possible reduction in the landfill levy were withdrawn with the removal of mandatory pay-by-weight charging.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1317. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to limit the fees that can be charged by waste collection companies; his plans to set minimum or maximum limits for standing charges; his further plans to set minimum or maximum limits for lift charges; his plans to stipulate the type of bins on which changes can be levied; and if customers that sign a new contract before 1 September 2017 will not experience a change in price for 12 months. [36649/17]

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 and recycling, 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 , 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. There are no plans to introduce maximum charges or minimum charges as proposed in 2016. However, the Government is putting in place a price watchdog group to carefully monitor the situation in the months ahead.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1318. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the system in place for calibrating and verifying the accuracy of the weight measures used on waste collection trucks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36650/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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NSAI Legal Metrology is responsible for the implementation of the Metrology Acts 1980-1996 and related Regulations. It does this through certifying and inspecting measurement instruments and the quantities of pre-packaged products.  A wide range of measuring instruments, including bin weighing systems on refuse collection trucks are subject to legal metrological control when used for trade purposes.

The Metrology Act 1996 and Legal Metrology (General) Regulations 2008, provide that only nationally approved instruments or instruments that have undergone European conformity assessment and bear the CE mark can be used for trade.  The primary responsibility for design approval and conformity assessment rests with the manufacturer.  The trader is obliged to ensure that only such a measuring instrument is used for trade and that it is correct and verified at all times.  Re-verification must be carried out after the instrument has been repaired, re-calibrated or failed inspection.  The process of re-verification involves establishing that the instrument complies with regulations, in particular, testing for accuracy against applicable measurement tolerances and the application of tamper evident seals. 

In order to ensure sufficient resources are available for traders to keep their instruments in compliance, Legal Metrology have authorised private operators, subject to specific conditions, under Section 12 of the 1996 Act, to undertake verifications at the request of the instrument owner.  To monitor compliance, NSAI Legal Metrology Inspectors, operating out of seven offices countrywide, carry out inspections of bin weighing systems on refuse trucks on the basis of risk-based enforcement to determine compliance.