Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a brief contribution to the debate and thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me a few minutes to speak.

Immense praise is due to Deputy Sean Sherlock for bringing this matter to the floor of the House. I am stating this publicly because it is something we all need to discuss. In fairness, listening to the debate, we can all come together and formulate a policy on it. I have been watching some of the debate in my office and listening to some of it in the Chamber and a lot of valid points have been made about the damage caused by plastic microbeads. I wish to introduce a few other things.

Deputies have spoken about the problem in our own country, but we probably have all been watching the reports on Sky News on the cleaning up of the oceans by volunteers. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett and others also referred to this matter. In dealing with community and Tidy Towns groups, etc. we all know about the scourge of plastics. Such groups constantly bring the matter to our attention. There is another dreadful aspect to the problem - the amount of plastic in the ground that is causing flooding issues and doing a lot of damage. In some parts of my constituency of Roscommon-Galway where we were trying to alleviate the effects of flooding and some drainage and dredging works were carried out the amount of plastic in the ground was shocking. It is something we should encompass in further Bills and discussions we will have on the issue.

As has been stated, there are billions of tonnes of plastic in the oceans, lakes and rivers and it is becoming an absolute scourge. There is absolutely no doubt that it is detrimental to the environment and marine life. It is notable that many of the Nordic countries have banned the use of plastic microbeads in recognition of how dangerous they are. We need to move forward with legislation and address the issue in the coming months so as not to push it down the road. We need to take definite decisions.

The plastic business employs millions of people throughout the world, but there is no reason it cannot operate and have its place. However, this matter concerns the dumping of much of the material it produces. It is shocking to watch the special reports, particularly on Sky News, on what is happening. We know that it is happening in our own country and can see it everywhere we go. Many lakes and rivers are full of this material which has been dumped into them.

Even though we are abstaining in the vote on the Bill, I support what the Deputy is trying to do. It is a very good discussion of an issue we must address. I again thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me a few minutes to express my opinions on it.

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