Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 February 2016
538. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the details of all alternatives which his Department considered in advance of introducing a full producer responsibility initiative for waste tyres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4317/16]
View answer539. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the details of all consultations that his Department held in advance of the introduction of a full producer responsibility initiative for waste tyres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4318/16]
View answer540. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the details of the regulatory impact assessment which was undertaken to assess the impact of introducing a full producer responsibility initiative for waste tyres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4319/16]
View answer541. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce regulations to give effects to the full producer responsibility initiative to cover waste tyres; when he expects to introduce them; if a draft will be provided to this Deputy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4320/16]
View answer542. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the details of the other organisations, companies or bodies which his Department considered in conjunction with Repak to handle the introduction of the full producer responsibility initiative for waste tyres; if he will provide copies of those proposals from those entities to this Deputy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4321/16]
View answer543. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government how the confidentiality and commercial sensitivity of those participating in the producer responsibility initiative for waste tyres will be maintained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4322/16]
View answer544. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the decision was taken to introduce a full producer responsibility initiative for the tyre industry regarding the handling of waste tyres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4323/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 538 to 544, inclusive, together.
Prior to the announcement in November 2013 that a full compliance scheme for waste tyres would be introduced in Ireland various approaches to dealing with waste tyres were examined and considered in the context of the Review of the producer responsibility initiative Model in Ireland based on successful examples from other EU Member States. However, having considered the scale of the problem and options for its resolution, the Tyres and Waste Tyres Report was unequivocal in recommending a full compliance scheme. Other models put forward as separate proposals by the two industry associations were considered during the deliberations of the Tyres Working Group but these were rejected on the grounds that neither would deliver a fit for purpose management system for waste tyres. Subject to the consent of the industry associations to their release, I am happy to provide copies of these proposals to the Deputy.
The new arrangements have been the subject of multiple consultation processes. In June 2012 a public consultation took place seeking the views of stakeholders and the public on the future of the producer responsibility initiative Model in Ireland. The consultation document put forward an outline of possible policy initiatives for consultation and provided an opportunity, at an early stage, to stakeholders and the public to contribute to shaping Ireland’s future policy in the area of producer responsibility.
Following the publication of the report on Tyres and Waste Tyres in November 2013 a further public consultation period took place. The consultation period closed on 31st January 2014 , at which point my Department had received 16 submissions. The majority of these submissions were in favour of a full PRI for tyres.
The final draft report on the Review of the producer responsibility initiative Model in Ireland was published in July 2014 for a period of consultation which closed on 15th September 2014. On publication of the final report my Department established the tyres working group with membership drawn from across the waste and tyres sectors. Representatives of the two industry associations are also included. The tyres working group has met on seven occasions to assist my Department in the detailed design of the new arrangements. It is also proposed to undertake a further consultation on the draft regulations to give effect to the new compliance scheme arrangements. I expect the consultation process to take place in the second quarter of this year with a view to the regulations being commenced in the third quarter. In addition, work is on-going in my Department on a Regulatory Impact Assessment to supplement the very extensive analysis contained in the PRI review report. This work will be finalised by end of March this year.
The issue of security of data, particularly data that could be regarded as commercially sensitive, is of fundamental importance to the integrity of the model being developed for the tyre sector. The successful protection of extremely market sensitive data from the electronic and electrical industry will provide a sound basis on which to build the system for the tyre compliance scheme. The WEEE Register Society (WRS) developed the WEEE Black-box (WBB) in 2005 in response to Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) producers’ demands for a safe, secure and confidential site where they could report their confidential sales data. At present 1,320 producers report on a monthly basis across 10 categories and 30 sub-categories. The need to maintain confidentiality is so highly respected that the WBB is prohibited by Part II, Regulation 9(3) of the European Union (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2014 from disclosing information to any third parties including WRS. WBB is a web based reporting system and secure precautions are taken to protect the producers’ data.
The exact detail of what information will be reported by tyre operators is still under consideration with stakeholders at sub-group level. Once it has been decided by the Tyres Working Group it will be outlined in the new tyre regulations.
