I propose to take Questions Nos. 174, 176 and 178 together.
My Department is continuing the work of developing a mechanism to provide a €75 support for persons with lifelong or long-term medical incontinence to help meet the average annual cost of disposing of medical incontinence products. This process has unfortunately taken longer than envisaged, due to data protection issues that have arisen since the introduction of GDPR.
Subsequent to the announcement of the support, my Department has continued to engage with the HSE, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and other relevant stakeholders in an effort to complete the roll-out of the scheme. I can assure the Deputies that I am committed to introducing the annual support as soon as practically possible in conjunction with relevant agencies and stakeholders.
The figure of €75 represents the estimated average cost of disposal (at landfill or waste to energy plants) for medical incontinence products and was arrived at following an analysis of the issue and discussion with groups representing those with lifelong or long-term medical incontinence. My focus is on getting the scheme up and running and while I have no plans at this time to increase the level of support available, it will be subject to review in the future.
In line with the commitments set out in A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, published in 2012, and in the interest of encouraging further waste prevention and greater recycling, flat-rate fees for kerbside household waste collection are being phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018, as customers contracts come up for renewal. The necessary regulatory steps have been put in place to give effect to this measure.
As announced in mid-2017, mandatory per kilogramme 'pay by weight' charging is not being introduced. Allowing for a range of charging options, which encourage householders to reduce and separate their waste, provides flexibility to waste collectors to develop various service-price offerings that suit different household circumstances.
The Price Monitoring Group has considered twelve months of data to date. While fluctuations in prices and service offerings have been observed, the overall trend is relative price stability.