Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, TD, has published a report on Corporate Governance in the Producer Responsibility Initiative sector in Ireland.
The report, which was produced as part of the on-going review of the Producer Responsibility Initiative model launched by the Minister in July, 2012, considered the legal relationship between the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the compliance schemes. It then made recommendations as to how the relationship between the two could be improved upon.
The Minister emphasised the importance of the report saying, “It is imperative that high quality systems of effective corporate governance are in operation in the compliance scheme sector in Ireland”. These systems, the Minister added, are crucial not only for the compliance schemes, the companies and their members, but also for customers and the general public who support recycling in Ireland.
The key recommendation of the report is that the relationship between the Department and the compliance schemes be managed by way of a contractual Service Level Agreement, which will include a code of Corporate Governance. According to the Minister, this will “give a greater transparency between this Department and Compliance Schemes and ensure an even greater focus on the achievement of environmental targets”.
Minister Hogan has now opened a period of consultation on the report where interested stakeholders are asked to submit their views.