Ms Bernie Kiely:

I thank the committee for facilitating me in joining from County Wexford. Our role in the Department is to set the policy framework and set up the legislation and governance of the scheme. Through the farm plastics regulations we have set out clearly what producers have to do to take responsibility for the plastics they put on the market. As Mr. Moloney set out, the IFFPG is a response from the producers. It is a producer-led company that has come together to fulfil the legal obligations of producers. It is their responsibility to put a model together that works environmentally and financially to get plastics back from farms and into the recycling stream, keeping them out of the environment. The figures and pricing are a matter for IFFPG. It puts together the business model that works. It is its 25th year in operation this year. The evidence of its recycling rate is that it seems to be doing a very good job on that.