Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Stanley is perfectly correct about that. We have to work on preventions, and one of the initiatives I want to focus on this year is food waste. There is huge potential to reduce the volumes of food waste.

The Deputy is right about unnecessary packaging. That is the objective of the circular economy. My Department is working with other Departments in the context of the procurement process to consider the whole-of-life cost of a product rather than the point of purchase.

On the broader question of the type of pricing structures, I am very conscious of the issues and that we need to make sure there are pricing schemes in place. This is not a question of tax but of putting a system in place to encourage every household, whether an individual or a large family, to reduce the amount of waste it produces. We hope to have a system to facilitate that.

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