Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

------because I am passionate about this issue. I very much welcome the Bill, in particular because it has had support from both sides of the House. I thank the Labour Party and the Green Party for bringing it forward. I disagree with Deputy Howlin that new politics is not working. I think it is working and has worked on every occasion since we were elected. There are many new voices in the Dáil talking about different topics and giving voice to those topics. Given the vast majority the Labour Party had with Fine Gael in the previous Dáil, I ask myself why they did not introduce legislation such as this, but there you are.

I hate to say this when the Minister is not in the Chamber, but I was a little disappointed with his speech. It was very positive to start with, but he only dealt with one section of the Bill which concerned the deposit charge. He did not deal with the plastic aspect whatsoever, other than stating 2 million cups are disposed of daily. Then he took one example, Scotland, to discuss cost and so on. I would have preferred if he had given a shorter speech and placed it in context. Each time I rise in the Dáil, I make the point that this is the last Dáil that can take positive steps on climate change. This is simply one tiny step in making those changes, saying we will ban plastic cups and plates. This has been done in France, and it is significant that the Minister did not refer to France. Deputy Ryan did. France has brought in legislation such as this, it has been passed and it will come into effect in January 2020, so there is one example.

Then, quite extraordinarily, at the end of the Minister's speech he stated that he is worried that any outright ban on a product might lead to a breach of the free movement provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Of everything in these few pages, this part is the most frightening and the most ridiculous. France, which is one of the major parties in the EU, has already banned plastic cups and plates, and that is on top of a complete ban on plastic bags, as in other countries. We just put a levy on plastic bags, and that levy was very effective. Prior to its introduction in 2002, some 1.2 billion plastic bags were used. There was a 90% reduction in the use of plastic bags following the introduction of the levy. I ask the House to imagine what would happen if we got rid of plastic, full stop. As Sinn Féin mentioned, by 2050 we will have more plastic in our sea than fish. That is worth repeating. We will have more plastic in our sea than fish and 99% of all seabirds will have ingested plastic.

We have no choice. We are under an obligation to lead and do something. The poorer countries and the most vulnerable who have done the least to contribute to climate change will suffer rather than us. I have mentioned Galway, and I am sure that on occasions the House tires of hearing me talk about Galway, but ours is a very significant example of what is possible. I say this because Deputy Barry raised waste reduction in the context of for-profit and non-profit companies. In Galway, when the refuse service was under the control of the local authority, we reached the highest recycling rates in the country. We did not have a pay-by-weight system. We had no charge to start with and people recycled, then we had a flat rate and people recycled and then, foolishly, we had a pay-by-weight system and people still recycled. Under all three regimes, the people told us they wanted to recycle, they were active citizens who wanted to be involved, they did not need to be punished and they did not need lectures. They led us by the nose and we reached a recycling rate of 70%, an unimaginable figure, in a pilot project and, on a regular basis, 56% diversion from landfill. The reward to the people of Galway was to privatise that service and now we have illegal dumping and a citizenry that feels absolutely disempowered. If there is a lesson to be learned in this, and it would be great if we could learn it, it is that Galway was a great example of how to go forward with a non-punitive system whereby people wanted to actively engage.

On top of this, we had a cash for cans system - not a cash for ash system - whereby we encouraged people to return cans for recycling and if they had 100 aluminium cans in a plastic bag, we gave them a sum of money. What happened? The system was overwhelmed with the response from people. The system could not cope with the number of people who came to deliver cans and pick them up in the parks and on the streets. What happened after that? The system did everything possible to undermine the scheme. They said people were misusing it and that shop owners and pub owners were coming forward and so on. They failed to embrace the fact that no matter where they came from, people wanted to bring back the cans and recycle.

I have absolutely no hesitation in supporting this Bill. Certainly, the details must be worked out. I do not think there are many details to be worked out regarding the prohibition of plastic cups and plates but the details of the deposit scheme must be worked out. This is why we have a committee system.

Finally, perhaps we could start in the Dáil. I checked before I came into the Chamber whether the cups available on the premises are recyclable and I am told they are not. Subject to correction, perhaps we could start there agus, faoi cheannaireacht an Cheann Comhairle, rud a dhéanamh go deonach ansin. D'fhéadfaimis fáil réidh leis na cupáin agus leis na plátaí sin, mar shampla agus mar eiseamláir.

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