Mr. Leslie Carberry:

On the recovery issue, we may need to look at the drafting of the Bill. For the purposes of the new environmental levies, including the waste recovery levy, recovery is being used in a very specific sense to address incineration, certain landfill operations or export for those purposes. Waste recovery is being used to capture these specific activities which we want to disincentivise relative to recycling. We may need to look at the other sections which draw largely on the pre-existing waste legislation and which might mention recovery. We may need to differentiate so it is clear that when we are talking about waste recovery for the purposes of those levies, we are talking about incineration and we may not mean the same thing in other parts of the legislation. I thank the Deputies and Senators for flagging it because when I look at it with fresh eyes, I can see why there might be some confusion there.

In terms of encouraging the sharing economy, the potential of the digital economy to support the circular economy is something we want to further progress. This year, under the circular economy innovation grant scheme, we funded the development of an app through which consumers can buy pre-owned goods from charity and other second-hand stores. That will help to expand the scope of those stores and help them to improve the overall retail experience. The grant scheme will be an ongoing feature of the Department's strategy to encourage innovation and digital innovation would be part of that.

There are no current plans to look specifically at VAT but the strategy does talk about looking at all of the policy levers available to government to encourage the uptake of upcycled, refurbished or repaired goods. In terms of engagement with Europe, through our permanent representation and our environment team, there is always ongoing engagement with other member states and the European Commission on a full range of environmental issues.