Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018
247. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the recent 15% increase in bin charges by a company (details supplied) in County Cork; the action he will take to reduce costs of bin charges in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42810/18]
View answerI do not have a role in setting price levels for waste collection. The charges applied by waste management companies are matters for those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation, including contract and consumer legislation. However, 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 have been phased out over the period autumn 2017 to autumn 2018.
My Department established a Household Waste Collection Price Monitoring Group (PMG) last year to monitor pricing developments for household waste collection services during the phasing out of flat rate fees.
The PMG has met each month since September 2017 and has considered thirteen months of pricing data trends. The PMG has indicated that, in the vast majority of cases to date, charges have remained stable. Detailed data on the price offerings for the months of December to August are available on www.dccae.gov.ie.
The nature of the waste market is complex, as both the recent report of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and the Price Monitoring Group (PMG) have identified.
The CCPC Report recommends that existing national waste management policy, as set out in "A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland" would be reviewed. This review should take account of:
- the CCPC report, including its recommendation on the role of an economic regulator for household waste collection;
- the on-going work of the Price Monitoring Group; and
- the finalisation of the European circular economy waste and plastics legislation framework.
The review will inform the development of a future national waste management policy, including our environmental goals, regulatory and market structures, and policy instruments and tools.
