Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I come from a secondary school teaching background. I used to teach maths and physics and then I spent years promoting active travel in secondary schools. I noticed that people who were getting high grades in honours physics in their leaving certificate exams were not able to use a spanner. Is there an education piece around the circular economy that needs to be brought in? The curriculum is being developed at the moment because the Department of Education wants to move the leaving certificate away from academics and book learning to more practical learning. As was said, it is hard to find someone to fix things. People even the lack the ability to change a plug. We have got into consumerism, which is about buying more and more. That is why we are where we are. The more people can do at home on a basic level, the less they will buy things because they do not know how to fix or make them. I wonder if those responsible for the circular economy could engage with the curriculum development section of the Department of Education to look at bringing in some practical measures. It should not be possible to get a H1 in physics without knowing how to use a spanner. I was doing bicycle repair with leaving certificate girls who were the brightest of the brightest and they had no concept of how to use a spanner to adjust the height of their saddles. What is the point in getting a H1 in physics when you do not know how to use a spanner or understand the concept of how it works around the fulcrum? There is a missing piece in education and I wonder what we can do to embed it in some subjects.

It is the same with transition year students all doing a driving skills course. They are practically being told that the next thing they have to do is own a car. That is not a big solution for the circular economy either. Why are they not also getting cycle training, training in how to fix a bicycle and such basic things? If we are developing a curriculum, it might work nicely to tie the circular economy into a few other things and educate the educators about the concept of the circular economy.

Deputy Stanton spoke about small companies. I went around Ennistymon with my friend Marie Georget eight years ago or so and every business that sold coffee agreed it would give a 30 cent reduction to people who brought their own cup. This was eight years ago. It was no problem. They agreed straight away because they were wasting so much money on single use cups, including storage and cost. I would argue with the idea that they are 7 cent. They must be really crappy plastic ones that are not biodegradable or compostable. They cannot be got for that price anywhere. The will is there in small businesses. I would like to see the local enterprise offices, LEOs, working with small businesses to see how they can organise collective bulk purchasing of reusable cups businesses want to brand. Every small business is doing it separately but the more you buy, the cheaper you get it. That is great for the multiples, as Deputy Shanahan stated. I would love to see the LEOs helping small businesses to come together to purchase reusable lunch boxes and coffee cups and so on. Otherwise it will be hard for small businesses to afford it. Two of my sisters work in this realm so I know it is a challenge.

I will go back to single use plastics. I have friends who are organic vegetable growers and supply the multiples. It kills them that they grow everything organically and then have to wrap it in plastic. They are probably using biodegradable or compostable versions - the things we all use to make ourselves feel a little less guilty about the plastic - but it still wastes energy and produces more packaging. What can we do to get the multiples to stop wrapping everything in plastic? I know there is a token banana in Aldi or wherever that has a sticker on it. That is great but people get really pissed off. They are trying to do their best. They bring their cup or bottle, but if consumers who are trying to do their best go to any multiple, they find plastic heaven. What can be done about that on a bigger scale? The bigger companies seem to want to go green. It is pretty off-putting. People ask what the point is when everything in the big supermarkets is wrapped in plastic. Perhaps the supermarkets should be forced to take all the packaging there and then, but that is not practical for everyone either.

What is happening with the recycling of plastic in Ireland? Is it being exported. I do not necessarily have a problem with that, but people say "Ah, sure it is all going to China". I met a friend who is a solicitor and does not recycle anything. He said there is no point because it all goes to China. We have to do something about that to give people faith that it is worth their while recycling.

Will we get recycling bins on the streets or are they not needed with the return scheme? If there are cans and bottles in those bins, do they go to landfill because local authorities do not care? How is that being dealt with? It is amazing that a figure of 1.9 billion bottles and cans a year was mentioned and that it is hoped to get 90% of those back. That would be fantastic, but I wonder about the bins. When people are on the street, will they have to carry around plastic bottles and cans until they find a return point? Maybe they will find one if there are 2,500 of them. I wonder about street bins. Other countries have segregated bins.