I propose to take Questions No. 687 and 688 together.
Under the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, 1997, a person who is a major producer for the purposes of the regulations must comply with specified requirements, unless they are exempt from these in accordance with article 13 of the regulations. They include requirement to apply to a relevant local authority for registration or renewal of registration, as the case may be, in accordance with article 6(1) of the regulations; prepare and submit to a relevant local authority a plan in accordance with articles 6 and 8 of the regulations; and compile and submit information to a relevant local authority in accordance with article 7 of the regulations.
Article 21(1) of the regulations requires that the register maintained by a local authority under section 19 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 will contain entries specifying, inter alia, the registration or renewal of registration of a major producer by that local authority. Article 21(2) requires information, including plans, received by a local authority in accordance with articles 6 and 7 of the regulations to be made available at the principal office of the local authority concerned for inspection by any person.
Each local authority is responsible for the enforcement of the 1997 regulations within its functional area. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government has no function in this regard, or in relation to the compilation of information concerning the implementation of the regulations.