Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the safeguards he has put in place to ensure that the deposit return scheme will not lead to price rises for households for waste collection services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45618/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans is one of the most positive consumer behaviour initiatives to happen in this country for decades.

So far, over 680 million containers have been returned and €117 million in deposits has been refunded to consumers. The major milestone of half a billion containers was reached in mid-September and in August, a return rate of 73% of containers placed on the market was achieved by Re-turn, placing Ireland well on track to achieve our first EU collection target of 77% by the end of 2025.

My Department is aware of concerns raised by the waste collection industry on the impact they claim the DRS is having on kerbside household recycling collection. It remains to be established if the impact on recyclables collectors’ revenues could be positive or negative. My Departmental officials are currently engaging with the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) and other stakeholders such as Repak – to quantify what substantive impact, if any, the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme will have on the waste collection system in Ireland over the longer term.

Household waste collection in Ireland is mainly carried out by private companies – operating in a competitive market under a local authority permit system. The Deputy may wish to note that I will shortly commission a comprehensive study to explore the feasibility, potential benefits and risks associated with transitioning our waste collection system from its current model of side-by-side market competition to a franchise tendering system for local authority areas or regions.