Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies Paudie Coffey, Eoghan Murphy and Anthony Lawlor. Ba mhaith liom sa chéad áit mo bhuíochas a ghabháil as ucht an deis labhairt ar an ábhar tábhactach seo. Mar is gnáth do dhuine a labhraíonn anseo don chéad uair, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis na daoine in iarthar Chorcaí. This is my maiden speech and, as is customary, I express my gratitude to the electorate in west Cork for the opportunity they have given me to represent them and speak today on this subject.

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well. I have no doubt that he will be very successful. The role, power and functions of the local authority are very important in this debate. It is something to which we often pay lip service, particularly before elections. However, we then drift away and continue to ignore it. In the debate on this Bill we should take particular cognisance of the local authority and how we can strengthen its functions and role in the area of waste management. When I was on Cork County Council and mayor of the county the council got out of the waste collection business. However, I do not consider that a negative and it is important that it does not preclude local authorities from involvement in waste management and particularly enforcement.

The management of waste is a challenging issue for this generation, but the single greatest challenge is enforcement. It is proving difficult on the ground to manage the enforcement of the anti-litter laws. I am a fervent believer that education provides the only solution to this challenge. Education must create awareness. The role of schools, with the green school initiative and flags, has been of considerable benefit but there is more to education than schools. Much education, in fact the most important education, is imparted in the home. Education on anti-litter initiatives must spread above and beyond the responsibility of schools.

We must also cultivate a sense of pride and bring about a sense of responsibility and ownership of our community, realising that the boundaries extend beyond our own garden wall, that we are part of a community and we have a responsibility to that community as a whole. This will lead into enhancing our own sense of well-being, and that completes the full circle.

My interest in this legislation is in the plastic bag levy. I am aware that there are no values as yet put on the levies, while a maximum of 70 cent is proposed. In March 2002, as has been alluded to previously in the debate, a 15 cent levy was introduced and everybody has acknowledged the success of that initiative. The levy increased to 22 cent in 2007 and therein came the decline in the matter. Unfortunately, with that increase also came an increase in usage. We must look beyond the levy because we cannot the continue the cycle. While it is a good avenue to generate income, it is not proving to be successful. The income from the levy was €10.4 million in 2002 and that more than doubled to €26.6 million in 2008 but the net result is increased usage of plastic bags. While we have increased revenue, it is clearly a counter productive measure if it continues in that spiral. It is not helpful to the overall objective, which is to decrease the usage of plastic bags.

The improvement in the countryside has been referred to already. We all acknowledge that the litter problem has improved but the fact that we are still using a significant amount of plastic bags is where the issue lies. No matter what kind of levies we impose on plastic bags, it will not address that aspect.

If I may, I will refer to a couple of figures.

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