Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Since they are the leaders in climate change, I would not have liked to interrupt them too much.

The motion is not contentious, but I would like to make one point. Plastic is far too easy to produce and far too difficult to destroy and recycle. The reduction of the production of waste products is the key. A system under which we would not produce the amount of waste we are producing is the key, rather than trying to recycle and address the problem from that point of view.

There was a Greek philosopher called Diogenes who lived in a barrel and collected useless objects. Perhaps there are Members of this House who recognise Diogenes syndrome in themselves. We accumulate large amounts of items, for example, papers, bottle tops and bric-a-brac. We are a society that is the opposite of Diogenes in that we accumulate little or nothing and throw away everything. We are living in a throwaway society.

To return to Deputy Eamon Ryan's point, I come from a generation as part of which I collected bottles which financed my visits to the pictures and second-hand bookshops where I could buy back editions of National Geographic. The way forward is to reduce production, but it must be clear that education is extremely important in schools and universities. We should become an innovative society. Our young scientists in schools and universities should be given the task of developing biodegradable, compostable packaging which would really address the problem. The kernel of the solution is that must develop systems under which we will not accumulate non-recyclable and non-compostable packaging.

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