Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 June 2016
180. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the interdepartmental working group recommended, on page 7 of A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, measures to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income households was ever established and if so, its recommendations; and if he will make available its report. [18106/16]
View answerAn interdepartmental working group, established in line with national waste policy to report to Government with options to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income households, has submitted two reports to date.
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.
That Government considered the report and, given the complexity of the issues involved, including the fact that the vast majority of households had moved away from local authority collection, with the service now largely provided by 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 explore the issue.
During the period in which local authorities were directly involved in the collection of household waste, a minority of individual Councils offered different levels of discount to selected households, based on different qualification criteria. As local authorities exited the waste collection market, some required the private operators which took on the Councils’ customers to provide a level of discount for existing waiver customers only, and even then for a limited time.
The vast majority of such contractual commitments for private operators to provide a waiver have now expired. In that context, the number of households in receipt of waiver discounts is likely to decline over time, especially as some householders were able to take advantage of special reduced offers elsewhere which actually undercut the waiver price. However, selected private operators still offer some level of discount to former waiver customers on a voluntary basis.
In addition, a very limited number of local authorities make financial contributions towards the cost of, or pay for, the collection of waste from certain households. Again, the qualification criteria and level of support differ from area to area.
With the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities no longer collect waste and the market is now serviced by a diverse range of private operators, where the fees charged are a matter between service provider and customer and the services offered vary across the country. In that regard, it is becoming increasingly apparent that a national waiver scheme could not be imposed in the context of an open market for waste collection.
