Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My comments will be similar to those made by the Chairman. We are not just talking about the taxpayer picking up the tab for things; we are probably talking about financial disincentives rather than incentives for which the taxpayer will have to foot the bill.

That is a better financial model. On a related matter, the reason that is important is that companies are legally obliged to maximise profit for their shareholders. That is where we are at the moment, whereas Ireland Inc. is not obliged to do that. That is the difference and we must take it into account to ensure everything companies are being asked to do will drive profit, which means we can put in place a stick to respond to the bad behaviour we do not want to see.

I was interested in Dr. Brennan's comment that this not just about upcycling and so on but also the whole area of reuse of machinery. We have spoken a little about obsolescence, especially in the previous session. Does Dr. Brennan have any insight into obsolescence in companies with respect, for instance, to the kind of machinery they are using? Has she seen a shortening of the lifespan of some of that machinery or is there something in the background ensuring companies are not seeing the same level of obsolescence that we as end-users and consumers see?