Mr. Chris Mooney-Brown:

I thank the committee very much for this opportunity to present to it. We are talking today about social enterprise, which is a key enabler of the circular economy. Across Europe social enterprises annually divert around 1 million tonnes of materials away from landfill through reuse, repair and recycling, and in doing so they generate a combined turnover of €1.2 billion. These social enterprises engage 95,000 employees, volunteers and trainees in this circular economy activity.

In Ireland, Community Resources Network Ireland, CRNI, is the representative body for this sector. It is the only community-based reuse, repair and recycling network in Ireland. Through its active and committed membership of over 45 social enterprises, and other community-centred organisations and businesses, it serves the unique and valuable role of developing resource efficiency and circular economy initiatives via information sharing, member opportunities, and sector development and advocacy.

Our vision is an Ireland where the word "waste" does not exist and where our entire community benefits from the social, environmental and economic value of all reusable resources. Our mission is to promote community based, sustainable management of reusable resources as a practical and effective way of tackling Ireland’s growing waste problem.

CRNI’s members are involved in a range of circular economy activities, including: reuse schemes; sharing schemes; and repair schemes and hubs, for example, repairing bicycles, furniture, small engines, tools and laptops, and enabling all of these items to be reused. CRNI is a board member of the RREUSE network of Europe and at a local level is involved in the national reuse and repair network in Ireland. Our core activities for 2024 are funded through the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

I will now discuss some of the sector challenges as we see them in Ireland. While some of CRNI’s members have been delivering reuse and repair activities for decades, the circular economy is still at its earliest stages of development, both in practical infrastructural terms and as a widely understood principle. As a consequence, CRNI’s members and Ireland’s circular economy efforts in general face the following common challenges, as we see them.

There is a lack of adequate funding to cover ongoing core activities of social enterprises and enable their long-term business planning and development. Broad-brush legislation and licensing can create restrictions for, or prevent, social enterprises from embarking on circular economy activities. Reuse, repair and recycling activities often require large and-or specially fitted premises, which are difficult to acquire, as Ms Downey mentioned earlier. There is an absence of formal accreditation or recognised qualifications for most sector-provided training. There are difficulties in accessing an adequate pool of trainers and labour activation scheme participants to engage in sector-led upskilling. Large procurement contracts are out of reach for social enterprises due to scale or undercutting by large-scale private waste management operators. As was mentioned, insurance costs are rising and there can be an absence of sufficient insurance coverage for reuse, repair and recycling activities. We are also aware of sector uncertainty on VAT rules.

In a functioning circular economy, social enterprises will have the same means as any traditional business for capitalising on their scaling-up potential in terms of finances, premises and personnel. We would like to see favourable operational conditions exist for social enterprise start-ups and growth, including a wider range of suitable insurance providers and reduced VAT on goods and services purchased by social enterprises to prepare and deliver their reuse, repair and recycling activities. A stated percentage of circular economy funds could be dedicated for community-based reuse, repair and recycling activity, and its investment could be informed and strategic. We would like the circular economy to be mainstreamed in public perception. Examples would include civic amenity sites being rebranded as recovery parks and awareness-raising campaigns to prompt behavioural change among users towards waste minimisation. We would also like to see corporate procurement processes, including favourable conditions to enable social enterprises to compete with large-scale private waste management operators. We envisage delivery of that target by enabling consortium frameworks to scale up.

Government policies play a significant role in promoting the circular economy. CRNI engages with policymakers and advisers to inform a policy landscape that supports and encourages sustainable economic practices, including tax incentives, regulatory frameworks and strategic, long-term funding opportunities for social enterprises.