Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 May 2023
56. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is aware of plans by a company (details supplied) to significantly increase fees for waste collection across black, green and brown bins; if he is also aware that there is no competition in terms of waste collection across large swathes of north County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20608/23]
View answerThe waste management market is serviced by private companies, where prices charged are matters between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation, including contract and consumer legislation. As Minister for the Environment, Climate & Communications I have no role in setting prices in a private market.
Since mid-2017, all authorised household waste collection companies, under the terms of their permits, have been required to charge fees which incentivise households to reduce and segregate their waste.
Within these rules, the structure of pricing plans is a commercial decision for the waste collection companies and as Minister I have no power to intervene in this. Given the significant market reforms due to be delivered this year, including introduction of incentivised waste collection charging in the commercial sector, the introduction of a "recovery levy" and the nationwide expansion of kerbside bio-waste collections, I have however instructed my officials to reinstitute the Price Monitoring Group to monitor whether fair and transparent pricing is consistent in the market, in line with commitments given in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE).
The recommendations of the 2018 Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) report on the Operation of the Household Waste Collection Market, which considered issues such as market structure, competition and charges to households, were fully considered during the process of drafting of the WAPCE, launched in September 2020.
While the WAPCE does not envisage a change to the current market structure, it does contain a range of measures to empower households through enhanced consumer protection requirements.
