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Waste Management

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2015

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Questions (1033)

Robert Dowds

Question:

1033. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a bin waiver scheme. [21433/15]

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Written answers

Among the measures included in the Government’s waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, which was published in July 2012, was the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to report to Government with options to minimise the impact of waste charges on low- income households.

The working group, which comprises representatives of my Department and the Departments of Social Protection; Public Expenditure and Reform; Finance; and the Tánaiste's Office, submitted its second report to Government in July 2013. Government considered the report and, given the complexity of the issues involved, including the fact that the vast majority of households have moved away from local authority collection and have engaged private waste collectors on whom it would be difficult to impose any obligation to provide a waiver system, mandated the working group to continue to examine the issue, with a view to submitting a third report to Government in due course.

Given that the vast majority of local authorities no longer collect waste and that the market is now serviced by a diverse range of private operators, where the fees charged and services offered vary across the country, it is becoming increasingly apparent that introducing a national waiver scheme in the context of an open market for waste collection would be highly complex.

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