Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Government has misread "the polluter pays" principle. We must ask who the polluter is. The Government tells us it is the person shopping, but I maintain he or she is not a polluter. The polluter is the person producing the excessive packaging in the first instance. The concept of incineration requires constant feeding. The idea of recycling will be lost. Local authorities will face financial penalties if they do not meet the huge demands of these incinerators. There will be a threshold and if that level of waste is not received, the local authority will be penalised financially. Is that logical? I hope the Minister replies to this.

The Minister has powers under the Waste Management Act 1996 to ensure the prevention and minimisation of waste and to deal with exactly the type of packaging to which I refer. He has not chosen to use these powers, nor do I expect him to, even though it is only ten or 11 months until the general election.

It is most unfortunate that we do not have more time to deal with this very important issue but I welcome the opportunity I have had to do so. I thank the Green Party for tabling the motion, which Sinn Féin supports.

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