Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 28 Apr 1998

Vol. 490 No. 2

Written Answers - Building Regulations.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

205 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department is insisting on new public buildings complying with the M document requirements regarding accessibility for people with disabilities. [9913/98]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

The building regulations place a duty on persons providing or reconstructing buildings on or after 1 June 1992 to cater for the needs of disabled people. Owners, designers and builders are responsible for complying with the regulations. Technical Guidance Document M provides guidance on how to comply with the requirements in relation to access for disabled persons. Local building control authorities have a role in monitoring and enforcing compliance which they may carry out by random inspections and investigations of any complaints about non-compliance.

I have set two objectives for local building control authorities in 1998: first, the appointment of building control inspectors by all authorities not later than 1 July 1998 and second, all authorities to make substantial progress towards inspecting 12 per cent to 15 per cent of building developments, as recommended in guidelines formulated by the City and County Managers Association, by the end of 1998.

John Gormley

Ceist:

206 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has satisfied himself with the situation in relation to a company (details supplied); if this company has met its recycling targets; and, if not, the action, if any, he will take in this regard. [9941/98]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace)

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste requires Ireland to achieve recovery rates of 25 per cent or more for packaging by 30 June 2001 and 50 per cent or more by 31 December 2005. I consider that satisfactory progress is being made towards the achievement of these targets.

The most recent comprehensive data on waste management, contained in the national waste database report published by the Environmental Protection Agency, indicate that the recovery rate for packaging waste in the household and commercial waste streams increased from 10.4 per cent in 1993 to 15.6 per cent in 1995. The report also indicates a recovery rate of 21.9 per cent in 1995 in relation to packaging waste from all sources i.e. household, commercial and industrial. The EPA is compiling an updated report in relation to 1998.

Repak Ltd. is a company established by industry, and operational since July 1997, to promote and co-ordinate the recovery of packaging waste and to faciltate compliance by industry with its obligations under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 1997.

It is an objective of Repak Ltd. to organise and finance the systems needed to achieve a recovery rate of 27 per cent by 2001 in relation to packaging waste. Its waste recovery scheme requires members to take steps to recover the packaging waste arising on their own premises, and to make a financial contribution to Repak Ltd.

The funds contributed by members are applied by Repak Ltd. mainly to support the collection and recovery of packaging waste from householders. In this regard, I understand that financial assistance in 1997, to a total value of over £800,000, was provided to Kerbside Dublin and Gandon Enterprises Ltd., the Rehab Recycling Partnership, to assist their recycling activities.

Repak Ltd. is an approved body under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 1997, and persons participating in its waste recovery scheme are exempt from obligations which would otherwise apply under the regulations. I consider its operation to be a tangible expression of producer responsibility and an important element of overall waste management. However, it is still at an early stage of development and there is considerable scope for expansion and fine tuning of its operations, for example, to develop a higher public profile, to communicate its activities more fully, to expand its membership, to modify its fees structure to reflect more fully the relative environmental impact of members' activities, to support and monitor compliance by its members with their obligations and to aim for higher targets for waste recovery to meet the requirements of the packaging directive in the post-2001 period. I understand that all of these matters are being pursued by the company. I have asked it for a comprehensive report, and this will be used as a basis for constructive consultation on the ongoing development of its waste recovery operations.

Repak Ltd. is at present the sole approved body under the regulations and I will be glad to consider other applications for such approval.