Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, for coming in today. There has been much discussion in this House and also around the country recently since the announcement by Panda that it would bring in charges for the collection of brown bins for domestic users. We all know that the public bin collection was privatised in an era when waste production and management was not considered as urgent an issue as it is today, and the climate and environmental impacts of it were not as appreciated. This is in part due to the greater awareness of the need to tackle climate change and also in part due to the higher cost of living facing those customers now.

When a charging system was introduced for what had been previously a public service, to quote a 2020 study by Quinn and Feeney of Queen's University in Belfast: "The result of the economization process was a fully privatised, profit-oriented, price-monitored system." Waste management, especially recycling waste management, should not be a profit-orientated business. The use of the free market as a place to deal with domestic waste has now led to more vehicles on the road for collections. I know everybody in this Chamber will have been caught behind two or three bin lorries doing the same route and servicing neighbours. We can see the impact that is having. It also leads to higher prices for people trying to do the right thing by recycling and composting. Again, we are seeing that with the introduction of the charges by Panda. We are faced with a situation whereby some people will not be able to pay for their bin collection in the future. That impacts us all because it does lead to an increase in fly-tipping and dumping.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, CCPC, addressed providers in 2018 and stated that consumers have little or no power in an unregulated Irish waste market. We also know that the private model has not only harmed consumers but has led to poor standards of employment for workers in the sector, as is evident from cases like the Greyhound Recycling centre workers who were forced out on strike for 11 weeks by their employer while temporary staff were brought in to operate those routes. Certain services that are essential for the health and well-being of a society should never have a financial barrier placed in front of them and one of those is waste collection.

On Leaders' Questions last week there was a suggestion from the Tánaiste that a review of waste collection would be appropriate. Does the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, feel that it is time for a root and branch review and consideration of bringing bin collection back into public ownership in order to block attempts by private companies to charge people for what is an essential service. That is really what we need to consider here. Waste collection is an essential service. There should not be financial barriers for people to use it. We must ensure that something like this is within State control, so we can encourage and incentivise people to do the right thing and use charges to penalise or to discourage the wrong thing from happening. That is not happening at the moment. The private operators are there purely to make money. That is their business model. That is what they are meant to do, but I do not think that is the approach that this Government should use or facilitate. I ask the Minister of State to consider re-examining this issue and seeing if there is a better way of providing these essential services to the public, one that is environmentally friendly but also financially affordable for people.

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