I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the Private Members' motion on waste collection charges. On Tuesday, 21 June 2016, on the question that the amendment to the motion be agreed to, a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 70(2) that division must be taken now.
Waste Collection Charges: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Bríd Smith on Tuesday, 21 June 2016:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— the steady increase of charges for waste collection and the removal of waivers since the privatisation of waste management;
— the recent outrageous plans to increase the standing charges for the collection of household waste that are proposed by many private waste management companies;
— the severe hardship these rises will inflict on many households and families, particularly the disabled and those on low incomes; and
— the dramatic increase in numbers of households reducing, reusing and recycling over recent years and that the plans to increase these charges flies in the face of the so-called "polluter pays" principle;
calls on the Government to:
— immediately take action to prevent private waste management companies from implementing the planned increases;
— ensure that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government meets with the said companies as a matter of urgency;
— ensure that standing charges cannot be increased out of line with the consumer price index;
— implement rules for maximum pay by weight charges of 11 cent for residual household kerbside waste, 6 cent for food and bio waste and zero cent for recyclables per kilo; and
— reinstate waivers for pensioners, disabled persons, carers, all those whose primary income comes from social welfare payments and low-paid workers in receipt of family income supplement;
and makes the following changes to page 13, item (III) in section 20 "Other conditions to be attached to waste collection permits" of S.I. No. 24 of 2016:
— delete "not less than" and replace with "not greater than"; and
— insert "and also ensure that any fixed or standing charge does not increase in any one year by an amount any greater than the consumer price index as calculated by the Central Statistics Office" after "of the Act"’.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 2:
To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:
“supports the introduction of pay-by-weight charging for household waste collection from 1st July, as the most effective and proven means of managing and segregating household waste, in line with the polluter pays principle, to reduce residual waste going to landfills but also to give households more control over their waste costs, by incentivising people to reuse, recycle and compost better, and providing for more transparency in charging by service providers;
welcomes the following arrangements agreed between the Government and the waste industry to facilitate the effective roll-out of pay-by-weight charging:
— a price freeze for customers for the next 12 months on the basis of their current pricing plans;
— during the second half of 2016, the Government and the waste industry are committed to an intensive public awareness, information and promotion campaign to promote the benefits of the pay-by-weight charging model, support customers in understanding how they can change their waste management behaviour and manage better their waste costs under the pay-by-weight system;
— no later than 1st January, 2017, customers will receive a dual pricing bill listing the amount of waste they are disposing of, their costs under their current price plan and details of the comparative pay-by-weight charge, and they will be given the option to transition, should they so choose, to pay-by-weight charging or to remain on their
current price plan; and
— after the transitional 12 months, the operation of pay-by-weight and of the wider waste market will be reviewed to inform decisions in relation to the arrangements beyond 1st July, 2017;
notes the Government’s intention, in advance of 1st July, to underpin the requirements regarding provision of comparative billing information and the pay-by-weight opt-in arrangements through amendments to the relevant Statutory Instrument, and the intention to keep the operation of the price freeze under review, with further legislative intervention being considered, as necessary; and
acknowledges the commitment of the waste industry to provide a full weight allowance for the 60,000 Health Service Executive patients supplied with incontinence wear to reduce their waste charges, and the Government’s provision of a 50 per cent exemption to the waste industry from the landfill levy in respect of such waste.”
- (Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 96; Níl, 35.
Tá
- Aylward, Bobby.
- Bailey, Maria.
- Brassil, John.
- Breathnach, Declan.
- Breen, Pat.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Casey, Pat.
- Cassells, Shane.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Creed, Michael.
- Curran, John.
- Daly, Jim.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, John.
- Deering, Pat.
- Doherty, Regina.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Doyle, Andrew.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Fitzgerald, Frances.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Halligan, John.
- Harris, Simon.
- Harty, Michael.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lowry, Michael.
- MacSharry, Marc.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Finian.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McHugh, Joe.
- McLoughlin, Tony.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Murphy, Eugene.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Tom.
- Noonan, Michael.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connell, Kate.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Keeffe, Kevin.
- O'Loughlin, Fiona.
- O'Rourke, Frank.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
- Zappone, Katherine.
Níl
- Adams, Gerry.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Broughan, Thomas P.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Clare.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Stephen S.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Nolan, Carol.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- O'Brien, Jonathan.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wallace, Mick.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Jim Daly and Regina Doherty; Níl, Deputies Paul Murphy and Bríd Smith.
Amendment declared carried.
Motion, as amended, put and declared carried.