Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government his views on whether giving local authorities the power to regulate the scrap metal industry within their own jurisdictions is productive in view of the ease with which criminals can travel to neighbouring counties, which may have lesser regulation, to sell their stolen metal; if he will implement legislation to regulate those who purchase scrap metal, in effect disabling criminals from selling it at ease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30305/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Waste activities in Ireland are required to hold an authorisation in accordance with the Waste Management Act 1996; the terms of such authorisations are primarily derived from requirements of EU directives on waste and specific waste streams such as end-of-life vehicles or electronic waste. Depending on the authorisation required, these activities are controlled either by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, or by local authorities as competent authorities nominated by the State to implement such legislation. The purpose of these controls is to regulate the collection, recovery or disposal of waste in order to protect the environment.

Enforcement of waste legislation is a matter either for the EPA's office of environmental enforcement, OEE, with regard to waste licences or for local authorities with regard to waste permits. The OEE operates an enforcement network to foster co-operation between the various public service bodies involved in the enforcement of environmental legislation so that a higher and more consistent standard of enforcement is delivered throughout the country. I have asked my Department to examine the licensing and permitting legislation to ensure all necessary provisions, particularly relating to traceability, are in place to avoid situations that might be exploited by criminal elements.

Metal theft is a crime and is therefore a matter for An Garda Síochána in the first instance. A stakeholder forum on the matter has been set up by the Garda and is working to produce a metal theft crime prevention and reduction plan. My Department is one of the stakeholders participating in the work and will continue to play its part in supporting the work in this area, which is led by the Garda.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I am sure the Minister is aware that there is a great deal of theft in the countryside, in particular, but believe it or not it also happens in Dublin. A copper cable 22 mm thick feeding a crane 36 metres high was robbed from me a couple of weeks ago. Copper scrap is achieving €6,000 per tonne and although I do not know what price the thief got, it cost me €5,000 to replace the cable. In Wexford and Kilkenny people have contacted me about the issue. I know councils have done much work in regulating businesses that take in scrap but a person can still bring scrap to certain places and be paid cash. That practice should be stopped. Even if the practice is stopped in Wexford but continues in Kilkenny, people will drive to Kilkenny to get the cash.

We need a policy for the country in this respect. Anybody bringing scrap to a business should provide an RSI number and should only be paid with a crossed cheque so that it must be deposited in an account. It would also be a good idea to hold the money for two weeks as this would give the fellow taking in the scrap time to check it. The Garda could also investigate potential thefts as much material would have been stolen.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I can see Deputy Wallace's practical experience in these matters is coming into play. I thank him for that as what he described is exactly what is happening. The practice seems to be particularly prevalent in the south and south east. I am prepared to consider a permit system and take on board some of the suggestions made by the Deputy, such as an obligation to produce RSI numbers and so on. The Garda is leading a forum on the subject and I hope it will not be long before a report is given to me; I hope it will be weeks rather than months. We can then get on with making the necessary changes to legislation and licensing permits in order to tackle this growing problem.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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This is an important issue raised by Deputy Wallace, who made some very good points. This does not just happen in country areas. We have had experience in the Ballymun regeneration project where steel doors worth thousands of euros were stolen and the city council lost a fortune as a result. A sculpture, "The Bronze Lady" has also been removed from the Moate roadside. St. Kevin's Church has also been stripped of metal. We have had many thefts and we should have a more coherent policy across the whole country. The local authorities should be involved and these permits should be watched more carefully. The rules should be more stringent

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister mentioned a review of the permit system in response to Deputy Wallace. Around the country GAA clubs have what is termed "scrap Saturday", and I am sure the Minister has heard of examples in Kilkenny. My local club, Patrickswell, organised a "scrap Saturday", where the community brings all the waste scrap to the local GAA grounds and it in turn sells it on and it is used as a fund-raising vehicle. The local authority pulled the plug on it because it did not have the correct permit. It was a disgrace. When the Minister is conducting a review of the permit arrangement, he should look at the activities of legitimate voluntary clubs and organisations because they are, in effect, providing an environmental service. The decision of Limerick County Council beat all. Other clubs in the county had been engaging in similar activities under the radar and raised significant amounts of money towards the running costs of the clubs which we all support and promote. I just wanted to make the Minister aware of this.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The lack of common sense in such matters displayed by Limerick County Council is not worthy of the work being done. Given that there was no criminal involvement and that it was clear the activity was community-related, the local authority should have been much more flexible in its arrangements. I invite Deputies, in particular Deputy Wallace, to make submissions on such matters to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and feed into the forum we have established under the Garda Síochána. I hope we will be in a position to deal with these matters. It used to be the case that one followed the money, now one follows the metal.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Yes.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Metal is money.