Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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To return to the issue of sustainability and the Department's strategy in this area, from the published data it seems that Ireland is out of line in material use and poor waste processing. We have the lowest reuse level in Europe, other than Romania. We now see that we will not hit the target for plastics set at EU level. We have not seen the wide deployment of smart controls, namely, the sorts of things that can allow more sustainable management. We do not have the infrastructure for much of the expected reuse of materials that could be undertaken. We simply have not installed any of that infrastructure for the recovery of materials at the level we need.

While efforts are being made to address this, it is very fragmented. The Department is not leading this endeavour and does not seem to see it as important as other areas. It is, however, as massive as AI and its potential impact on enterprise in terms of competitiveness in ten years will be much dictated by whether we have rectified many of these indicators. Perhaps it is unfair to ask the witnesses about this area because under the allocation of responsibilities this comes under the remit of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, but I believe we will not crack this problem unless the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is leading the initiative.

The Dutch, who are the leading exemplars of what can be done in this regard, have started with industrial sectoral compacts. The food, construction and other sectors all sat down with their parent departments and other stakeholders and asked what needed to be done and what needed to be fixed, which involved examining the whole supply chain from design right through to the tailpipe. This is a missed opportunity in positioning Irish enterprises and in mobilising the wider community to buy into the idea that we all have to get onto the pitch to address climate change and the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of our planet.

Is the Department moving towards a circular economy compact for food, electronics, white goods and durables? According to the statistics, enterprise is the worst in the rankings. Our hotels are deplorable in managing food waste. A significant portion of our emissions annually is generated directly as a result of food waste. Who is the driver in this regard? I am sure the officials will point to Fáilte Ireland but there needs to be a central Department that feels this is going to impact the way enterprise survives and thrives.

Am I mistaken? Is there a bigger strategy hidden away that we have not quite seen?