Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of new funding that will be allocated to waste prevention and recycling in 2018; the programmes that this funding will support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44327/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I recently announced that €1.6 million was allocated as part of Budget 2018 to support an on-going waste campaign to assist householders in managing their waste.  

The Regional Waste Management Planning Offices commenced a programme of education and awareness funded by my  Department earlier this year with radio advertisements encouraging the use of the brown bin and focusing on food waste prevention. This was backed up with social media campaigns to further encourage the use of the brown bin. The Regional Waste Management Planning Offices will continue to roll out waste awareness and education initiatives this year, re-focussing on the use of the brown bin, but also concentrating on improving and increasing recycling, waste prevention and the correct use of the kerbside collection system. My Department is also undertaking an awareness campaign to inform people about the phase out of flat rate fees, which began during the summer and will continue this year.

The campaign will carry forward into 2018 and will continue to help householders reduce, reuse and recycle waste.

The Environment Fund has been used in previous years to support  a range of prevention and recycling initiatives, including  the National Waste Prevention Programme. Allocations from the Environment Fund for 2018 are currently under consideration.