Consultation
15.The Department issued an initial consultation paper on its proposals in June 2001. Some 500 bodies and individuals representative of the interests of local government, industry, agriculture and small businesses were consulted and 30 responses were received. The majority was in favour of the proposals and only 16 made significant comments. Of these, the Department accepted 8 and rejected 8. Of those rejected, 4 were rejected on policy grounds, 3 on the basis that what was being proposed would be outside the scope of the legislation and 1 on the ground that the proposal would be a breach of the Directive.
