Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

It will be interesting to see where the Green Party stands if and when a proposed planning permission for a paper mill in this country is sought.

The suggestions made regarding the implementation of producer responsibility initiatives under the Waste Management Act are equally off the mark. Irish regulations require that packaging be designed and produced to permit reuse or recovery and to minimise impacts on the environment upon disposal of the packaging.

It is worth reminding the House that the position on packaging in Ireland is aggravated by the reality that 75% of the packaging placed here is imported. I have asked Repak to bring forward further waste prevention and reduction proposals in its strategy covering the period 2006 to 2011. If Deputies paid attention to real recycling issues they would know that only last week Repak indicated in a series of documents circulated what could be and is being done, particularly by Irish firms in this area.

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