Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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59.To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated full year cost of remunicipalising domestic waste collection and providing it to all households as a universal public service free at the point of use. [32964/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Waste Management is a statutory function of the Local Government system in Ireland. Local authorities are responsible for municipal waste collection and waste management planning within their functional areas. It is open to the Chief Executive of any local authority to exercise their executive function in relation to waste collection to re-enter the waste collection market as direct service providers if they so choose, either alongside existing permitted service providers or subject to making arrangements to replace those providers.

Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act 1996 I am, as Minister, precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance by a local authority, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it.

It should be noted that the “Polluter Pays Principle” is one of the key principles which underlines both Irish and European waste management policy. This means that polluters should be incentivised to avoid environmental damage and are also held responsible for any pollution that they may create. It also requires that the polluter, and not the taxpayer, should be held responsible for any costs associated with remediating any environmental harm.

Under the conditions of their local authority waste collection permits, all waste collectors in Ireland are required to operate a charging system which respects the polluter pays principle and incentivises the segregation of waste.