Mr. Leslie Carberry:

On Deputy Bruton's point about the example of cars and the level of time they are unattended and unused, I absolutely agree in that when we look at the circular economy, it is not even just the material design we have to look at, it is the business and use models. A greater pooled use of existing products and materials, without changing design at all, would make a huge difference to our resource consumption. That is something we want to look at.

In terms of providing for design principles or reporting requirements, I echo what Mr. O'Donoghue said about food waste targets. The Department would not have any objection to being given the power to introduce such principles and reporting requirements into the legislation. It would be precipitous to specify, in legislation, what those principles, actions or targets should be, but if it was the will of the Oireachtas to designate, the Minister would have the power to set those under the legislation and that is certainly something we could look at. There is no economy-wide material flow analysis for the Irish economy, that is, looking at the products and materials coming in, tracking how they are used and then tracking they are disposed of, recycled or re-entered.

That is a huge piece of work that would let us target our interventions and track our progress. Getting that kind of work done, as well as doing the sectoral work of identifying actions and regulatory barriers, is necessary before we specify what would be potentially quite onerous targets through legislation.

In terms of the regulatory barriers, as Mr. O'Donoghue alluded to, the end of waste and by-products processes are being streamlined. This means that under certain circumstances, a product which is being treated as waste can be taken out and no longer treated as waste but reused. Similarly, a by-product from a process can no longer be treated as waste and be used in a subsequent industrial or manufacturing process.

In terms of other regulatory barriers, some may be set at an EU level. Where we identify them, we must take an approach at EU level to see if we can ensure that barriers that exist around safety, for example, are as robust as they need to be but can also facilitate the circular economy. Part of the work we want to do under the strategy is to identify any national regulatory barriers where we can take action. I am engaging with stakeholders, particularly from the private sector, on this and am asking them for feedback on where such barriers are and if there is anything we can do at national level.

The EPA will have a key role in implementation but, for the avoidance of doubt, the Department and the Minister will have overall responsibility for driving this agenda across government. An interdepartmental working group, comprising a wide range of public bodies as well as Departments, will be tasked with implementing the first version of the strategy, preparing the second version and seeing through the various actions there. It is not that the agency will be left by itself to do all this. The EPA is a key player and partner for the Department but the Department its responsible for the wider whole-of-government process around the circular transition.