Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 November 2015
186. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's view on private waste firms using a pay-by-weight service from July 2016; if he will engage with such firms in relation to customers who will be adversely impacted by this, due to waste caused by medical conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39807/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment waste policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in the EU’s Waste Framework Directive. A number of specific measures have been, and will continue to be, introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated in the State and to increase the segregation of waste which cannot be prevented in line with Government policy. The introduction of pay by weight charges for the collection of household waste is one such measure. During the period in which local authorities were directly involved in the collection of household waste, a minority of individual Councils offered different levels of discount to selected households, based on different qualification criteria.
As local authorities exited the waste collection market, some required the private operators which took on the Councils’ customers to provide a level of discount for existing waiver customers only, and even then for a limited time. The vast majority of contractual commitments for private operators to provide a waiver have now expired. In that context, the number of households in receipt of waiver discounts is likely to decline over time, especially as some householders were able to take advantage of special reduced offers elsewhere which actually undercut the waiver price. However, selected private operators still offer some level of discount to former waiver customers on a voluntary basis.
In addition, a very limited number of local authorities make financial contributions towards the cost of, or pay for, the collection of waste from certain households. Again, the qualification criteria and level of support differ from area to area. Such expenditure means that these local authorities divert funding from other areas to support these waiver provisions.
The vast majority of local authorities no longer collect waste and that the market is now serviced by a diverse range of private operators, where the fees charged are a matter between service provider and customer and the services offered vary across the country. In that regard, it is becoming increasingly apparent that a national waiver scheme could not be imposed in the context of an open market for waste collection.
