Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)

I will exercise the advice of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on brevity and focus on the registration of scrap dealers. We are familiar with the status quo, whereby anyone can walk into a scrap merchant or dealer and instantly trade metals for cash. It can also be done in other jurisdictions. The difficulty is that an unscrupulous element can be attracted and this is happening. That is where the theft issue arises. In his opening remarks, the Minister made clear that, unless the industry is regulated and people must register with scrap merchants, the problem will continue. I have no reason to question how they conduct their business.

Previous speakers referred to difficulties in the UK but these have declined rather than increased in the past year. This has been achieved on the basis of registration. The solution is registration and I agree with the Minister's focus. It will not be solved alternatively.

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