James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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488. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the way in which persons in towns and villages in County Wexford who dispose of rubbish using crushing machines will be excused during inspections of their means of rubbish disposal; the position regarding bin charges for households in which a household member is incontinent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9449/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A Template for a Bye-law on Waste Presentationhas been prepared by the three Regional Waste Management Offices and circulated to local authorities with a view to standardising such Bye-laws across the State. A number of local authorities have already introduced such Bye-laws with the remaining Local Authorities expected to do so by mid-2019. The Bye-laws govern a range of issues, including obliging consumers to participate in an authorised waste collection service (or provide documentary proof on what alternative means they use to dispose of their waste) and encouraging greater segregation of waste to reduce volumes of residual waste collected.

The requirement for people to demonstrate how they manage their waste is consistent with national policy as set out in A Resource Opportunity – Waste Management Policy in Ireland. However, the power to adopt Waste Presentation Bye-lawsis a reserved function of a local authority. Accordingly, questions in relation to how householders demonstrate compliance with the Bye-laws are best directed to the relevant local authority.

My Department is continuing the work of developing a mechanism to provide a support for vulnerable persons with a condition such as lifelong or long-term medical incontinence to help meet the average annual cost of disposing of their domestic waste. I am informed that this process has taken longer than envisaged, due to a number of issues, including data protection issues that have arisen since the introduction of GDPR. However, I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to introducing an annual support as soon as practically possible in conjunction with relevant agencies and stakeholders.