Dr. Kevin Lynch:

The Bill, as presented, seems to be comprehensive from my point of view. As we saw at the last meeting of the committee, as well as in the presentations made today by my colleagues from GMIT, there is a lot of evidence that microplastics are a problem. Our studies show that sediments contain microplastics both from historical and continuing pollution events. Microplastics in the environment look like food to the organisms which consume them. They then bioaccumulate which has direct impacts on the organisms and the higher predators which feed on them. There is evidence of microplastics in both the blue mussel and nephrops in Galway Bay and on the west coast generally, which means that they are in the food chain, which gives real cause for concern. This evidence adds to international research in the area which confirms the problem across the globe. In Norway the same species have been seen to contain microplastics.

From that we can extrapolate that this is a real problem. Rather than waiting for extensive research specifically in an Irish context, invoking the precautionary principle is a really good idea. We welcome that the Bill provides that, rather than waiting for all this research over the next number of years, we will invoke the precautionary principle and act now to try to prevent additional primary microplastics entering the environment.

The clear definition of microbeads in the Bill, which is inclusive of all plastic particles in the size range, is welcome. It was less clear in the previous Bill. It is now clearly defined and it makes it easy to understand what exactly the Bill covers. That is also welcome.

In terms of the penalty for breaching the law, my reading of it, which may be wrong, is that it would be €500. That does not seem adequate for the purposes. It would be a question for the committee as to whether that is correct.

Overall, the Bill appears to be a good addition to our attempts to tackle this microplastics problem in the environment. I welcome it in its current state and it appears to be a good Bill with which to proceed.