Mr. Des Crinion:

No, is the short answer. On the specific point made about the deposit return scheme, from the very beginning the waste industry opposed the deposit return scheme. We thought there was a much better solution and Ireland could have led the world using a digital deposit return scheme where the existing infrastructure would have been used but you would have used your smartphone to claim the deposit back using an existing bin. Every household in Ireland has a reverse vending machine. It is called the green bin and that should have been used. Instead we rolled out a very old system that was in use everywhere else in the world. We have put an extra 60 trucks and vans on the road to do collections. People have to bring the bottle back to their local supermarket, not their local shop, and the large bottlers have taken control of the aluminium bottles and cans. I do not agree with the Deputy.