Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is great news. We need to move on this as quickly as possible. Given the concerns about climate change, time is of the essence. Earlier this year, scientists from the National University of Ireland, Galway, published disturbing research which showed that more than 70% of deep-sea fish in the Atlantic Ocean had ingested microplastics. It is reported that more than 8 million metric tonnes of plastic ends up in our seas annually. There have also been recent reports on the huge levels of plastic and other rubbish being deposited in the oceans by the shipping industry and I recall debating that issue in particular when I was a spokesperson on the marine in this House. There could be between 80,000 and 100,000 large vessels on the oceans now. There are particular problems with plastic and other dangerous rubbish being dumped in rivers and carried to the seas in a number of countries. Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, attended the launch of the iMARL project in Dún Laoghaire. He pointed out that there are 300,000 miles2, or 500,000 metres2, of ocean which we have a primary responsibility to protect.

More than a third of products sold in the EU annually are wrapped in plastic and the Minister has reported that 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. Public information campaigns to educate and change public behaviour on the use of plastics is important and the public is very willing to be educated in that respect. What frustrates people much of the time is the performance in the retail industry in particular of producers and retailers. The key responsibility rests with producers and businesses, especially those in the retail market to change their behaviour and use biodegradable and sustainable packaging for all their products. As in the case of the glass bottle industry in the past, people are exasperated that they cannot buy apples, oranges, tomatoes and potatoes, basic food ingredients of our daily lives, without having to get a plastic bag as well particularly in the winter months. The other responsibility rests with the Minister. He has the executive responsibility to act with budgetary or other measures as necessary, including bans, on non-biodegradable plastic packaging and other plastic products.

Climate change is one of the most pressing matters for our future generations. We are seeing the real impact of our changing climate over recent decades and again this year. The UK Government, with its Commonwealth partners, recently announced a £61.4 million fund which will be divided between research, manufacturing in developing countries, improving waste management as well as a pledge to match public donations. This morning it was announced that the UK plans to ban plastic straws in England and cotton buds and other single-use plastic products will be banned in the coming year. Scotland last January began consultation to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic cotton buds. Our plastic shopping bag levy has been in place since 2002 and it was increased to 22 cent when it seemed there was a reversal in behaviour. We should now introduce a levy on disposable coffee cups. It is welcome that we recently switched to compostable takeaway coffee cups here in Leinster House. Can the Minister tell us if this has happened across the whole of Government?

The new ban on imported plastics in China has put the ball in our court. The Citizens' Assembly, which has been doing stellar work on important issues since last year, this week laid its report, How the State can make Ireland a Leader in Tackling Climate Change, and 98% of the members agreed that climate change must be at the centre of policy-making here. We seriously need to reduce emissions in transport and agriculture. Let us start with major actions to move away from plastics especially in the retail sector.

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