Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

According to page 7 of the programme for Government, "We want Ireland's image as the green island to inform all areas of policy so that the global image of our country is transformed and we are recognised as one of the cleanest and safest environments in the world." A report by scientists from the National University of Ireland, Galway, showed that more than 70% of 233 fish caught in the north-west Atlantic had ingested plastic particles, one of the highest proportions of plastics found in fish worldwide, despite the remote location. Some of those will have originated in Ireland. Our supermarket shelves are lined with products containing microbeads, including toothpaste and other cosmetics. We need to ban them. We use plastic cups in the millions. According to a report issued on 27 January, 2.5 million plastic bottles go per day to landfill and to incineration in this State. We need to stop that.

To bring about a solution to the problem, I introduced the Waste Reduction (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017. Will the Government, with the Opposition parties, work with us now to get such legislation through the House in order that we can ban these microbeads, wasteful cups and other waste plastic?

See this speech in context