My Department has been actively engaged with the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, the Irish Motor Vehicle Recyclers Association, the Metal Merchants Association of Ireland and other concerned parties with a view to developing a producer responsibility initiative which would comply with the EU Directive (2000/53/EC) on end-of-life vehicles.
SIMI has recently submitted a formal proposal initiative to my Department for a producer responsibility. I understand that this is also being forwarded to MMAI and IMVRA for their consideration. The SIMI proposal is now being examined to see if it can form the basis of an acceptable initiative and my Department will maintain ongoing contact with all the parties concerned. However, if agreement on an initiative cannot be finalised in the near future, I will introduce mandatory requirements to ensure that the provisions of the Directive are implemented in full by the due date in April 2002.