Mr. James Fitzgerald:

No, the model seemed to evolve, morph or mutate from that approach. On the deposit refund scheme, the legislation also made provision for an approved body alternative. This is the element of it under which the IFFPG has been established as an approved body. It is the State-approved body to collect the levy on farm plastics coming into the country. The context vis-à-visthe legislation is that the system has moved away slightly from the legislation.

The Deputy raised the issue of green versus amber waste. Until 2013, all farm plastics were exported as green waste. In other words, farmers baled their plastic and shipped it to a recycler. A certificate was provided when it was leaving and another was provided when it came back. The situation changed in 2013 when farm plastics were designated as amber. This involved a significant shift and difficulty in respect of the export of farm plastics.