Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be part of this new venture for the Dáil in co-operation with the Green Party-An Comhaontas Glass in using our Private Members' time to introduce this Bill, for which there is support around the House. I was very hopeful, listening to the start of the Minister's contribution when he told us this area came under the natural resources rather than the waste section of the Department. I thought his speech would be really proactive and supportive, but it is disappointing that at the end of it he was throwing cold water on the Bill, particularly the cost issue. I would love to see everybody, including the Government, working to agree on whatever changes people felt were appropriate. I do hope there is still scope to work together on this issue because it is so important. Not so long ago when people came out of pubs or restaurants smelling of smoke, it would have been hard to think that was going to change. When I did my shopping perhaps 15 or 17 years ago, I came out with a trolley filled with at least ten plastic bags.

There was even another one tied onto the detergent box, which would not fit inside, to show that I had not robbed it. That is exactly what happened. That has happened very quickly. I give credit to Deputy Dooley's Fianna Fáil Party, albeit I have to give the credit for Repak to the Labour Party. The legislation introducing Repak and that system was brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, when he was Minister. It was specifically covered by a statutory instrument, SI 242/97, signed by Deputy Howlin on 10 June 1997. Credit where it is due over there but also where it is due over here.

I agree with Deputy Catherine Martin on the importance of clear information. Deputy Howlin referred to that as well. Many of us still do not know whether the plastic wrapping on the food we buy is recyclable. There is no clear information on that. Whatever the Minister of State and his officials take away from the debate, that needs to be clear. I prefer to buy oranges loose but if the only option is to buy a tray, there will be a piece of polystyrene on the bottom and plastic wrapped over the top. That should not be happening and we should be able to buy loose fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes should not be packed up, rather they should be hanging from the green thing that they grow on. Having said that, we should at least know whether the packaging is recyclable, in particular if it is plastic. The statistic quoted about there being more plastic in the sea than fish is really frightening. Information is important.

I want to focus on disposable coffee cups and so on. Everything at a child's party is now disposable, including the plates and cups. Surely, that is unnecessary. It is definitely not necessary for a coffee cup to have a piece of plastic somehow intertwined with the paper part of it so that it cannot be recycled in any meaningful way. It is very hard to separate the plastic from the paper. We need action on that. That is the second part of the legislation. Whatever about doubts about the cost of the return and refund provisions, this part of the legislation can surely be implemented. Even in the Houses of the Oireachtas, we should be trusted to buy our coffee in a mug, take it to our office and bring it back to be washed. Could we even set an example here and not have this large pile of paper cups? The point was made about people walking around the streets with these cups. Perhaps that should be discouraged in the same way that one would not walk around the streets with a cigarette. People should be discouraged from walking around with their coffee in cups that cannot be recycled. There is a great deal of public education to be done in all of this also.

There is a scheme in Limerick called Team Limerick Cleanup, or TLC, and it is fantastic. It happens once a year and everyone gets involved in their own communities to clean up their immediate areas. It is headed up by people like Paul O'Connell, of whom everyone will have heard. As well as cleaning up the place, it reminds everyone that we want our neighbourhoods to stay clean all year. Again, there is a huge element of education in all of this. I am delighted we are taking the Bill tonight. It is a very positive measure. I hope there will be more of this kind of cross-party co-operation on issues like this, which are really important.

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