Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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When will this happen? Yes, skills are being developed and people are trained to repair stuff. Around 20 years ago a local person from my area did the course on repairing household appliances with, I think, AnCO. The man repaired appliances for only a few years because he could not get parts for most of the household appliances. For example, the first part to stop working in most washing machines, which makes them roar like an aeroplane, is a broken bearing. People could not get bearings anymore and the manufacturers produced washing machines with a sealed unit so people could not replace them.

The Minister of State mentioned an EU directive. When will we reach the stage where we can force manufacturers not to build machines with an inbuilt short lifespan and that can be repaired?