Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On microplastics in the ocean, there is a problem with plastic pollution worldwide. I attended a UN conference on creating a worldwide convention about what to do about plastic pollution, much of which comes out of things such as washing machines, goes into rivers, ends up in the sea, and then gets eaten by fish, which we eat. Unbelievably, we are eating a credit card's worth of plastic every month. We are drinking plastic in our water supply and eating plastic when we eat food. That requires a worldwide response. There have been very positive responses from most countries.

The Deputy mentioned health procurement and the fact that this company in County Waterford is in difficulty. I am aware of that and have been following it. It is important that the Department of Health follows green procurement rules and the strategy we are laying out. There will be sectoral targets that will cover health, which will be published this year. The green procurement strategy is out for public consultation at present. I encourage the Deputy to look at it, comment on it, and see how it affects the health sector. If he feels it may have unintended consequences for business or is unfair in any way, I encourage him to comment on that. I meet representatives of Irish small and medium enterprises every quarter on procurement. They feed back to me their concerns about anything I am doing and generally help to write the procurement rules.

The Deputy mentioned companies that are supplying food to supermarkets on a sale or return basis, which is creating excess food waste. I meet supermarkets regularly on a range of issues. I will take that up with those large multiples and discuss it with them.

On fly-tipping enforcement, the Local Government Management Association, LGMA, or the County and City Management Association, CCMA, will come back to me with their code of practice for CCTV use on catching people who are fly-tipping. I expect that by the middle of November. By law, they have to tell me what their code of practice is. I will then sign it off and local authorities will be able to use CCTV to get evidence to convict people of fly-tipping.

The Deputy mentioned SETU, its expertise in materials research, and whether it could be involved in a centre of excellence. I have dealt with SETU in a very positive way. Its representatives came to me with a proposal for funding for quantum computing. It got €5 million from Europe and we matched that with another €5 million. SETU is now a centre of excellence for quantum computing and networking in Ireland. I was very impressed by the standard of its academics. Its materials research facility is incredible. I am sure it will be involved in the circular economy.