Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending this meeting. This is a very interesting topic. For the benefit of those following these proceedings I would like to point out that agri-plastics are the large plastics one sees on bales of silage. Most members of the public will have at some point in the year noted them going up and down the roads.

I have a number of questions. I get the sense that there is a significant stockpiling of this plastic that has not been processed and that there are issues and a number of difficulties in terms of how it is being processed. This is not a blame game, but we need to fully understand the current capacity in terms of the management of agricultural plastics which are a difficulty commodity to deal with. I am not sure if the witnesses heard the Chairman's earlier remarks in regard to the end product as he viewed it at the particular plant he visited. That is encouraging. We need to understand that, the significant costs involved and the issues in regard to the environment. Are the witnesses aware of large stockpiling of these agricultural-related industrial plastics? If so, where are they? In terms of their operation, what level of capacity does it have to stockpile, retain or store plastics for processing? Do the witnesses believe that the industry has the capacity to deal with the problem? It is a big problem. We do not fully understand what is going on. As part of the committee's work we are here today to tease out those issues with the witnesses. We also want the witnesses to share with us their experience and, more important, their knowledge about this sector. I ask the witnesses to address the stockpiling issue, the capacity to deal with it and the end product. I would like them to focus on that and to share with us their understanding in that regard. That would be very helpful to the committee.