One quarter of Irish businesses are not disposing of packaging waste in accordance with the law, it emerged yesterday, as the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, announced the establishment of a task force in a bid to tackle the problem.

Mr Dempsey said packaging regulations needed to be reformed so that all waste producers operated on a level playing field.

Earlier yesterday at the annual conference of Repak - the national agency which has legal responsibility for providing recycling services - its chief executive, Mr Andrew Hetherington, disclosed that 25 per cent of businesses were neither self-compliant (in that they legally disposed of their own waste) or members of Repak.

"We have a situation in Ireland where some businesses are operating outside the law and take no responsibility for packaging they place on the market. These businesses are, in effect, law-breakers. Only two prosecutions have taken place under the regulations because the local authorities, responsible for enforcement, do not have the sufficient resources," he said.

Mr Dempsey acknowledged the problems of lack of enforcement and weakness of the regulations.

"Most local authorities have done little or nothing to advance enforcement. This has to change. The legal responsibilities are clear-cut and I intend to ensure that dedicated resources are applied, rapidly and intensively, to deliver effective enforcement on a nationwide basis. This is vital to underpin higher recovery levels." Mr Dempsey said he was asking local authorities, under their waste management plans, to give first priority to the recycling elements of the plans so that the necessary action could be fast-tracked.

"I, too, will support the necessary substantial investment in waste recovery infrastructure through a new capital grants scheme under the National Development Plan. I will also provide resources from the Environment Fund, financed by the plastic shopping bag levy and proposed landfill levy, to be targeted at prevention, recovery and recycling activities," the Minister said.

Mr Hetherington told delegates that the EU target for Ireland for the recovery of packaging waste was set to rise from the 200,000 tonnes achieved this year to 450,000 tonnes by 2005. Legal loopholes in the regulations would have to be removed.

These included the exemption of companies with a turnover of less than £1 million (€1.27 million) and 25 tonnes of packaging and the unrealistically small registration fee that applied to companies opting for self-compliance. Planning issues relating to the location of "bring" centres and bottle banks should be removed.

Under a five-year strategic plan, Repak will work its recycling programmes in partnership with other State bodies and promote consumer use of recycling facilities. It intends to develop partnerships with international organisations to secure outlets for collected materials and to explore opportunities for co-operation with the UK.