Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy on one point. I know there is enormous and growing public concern about the impact that plastics are having on our environment. I think anyone who saw "The Blue Planet" or any of the programmes like that can see the impact it is having, particularly our marine and maritime environment. I know the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, is very interested in this area. He is studying it very closely with his officials to determine what moves and measures may be most effective in trying to reduce the amount of plastics that are produced, reduce the amount that we use and make sure that those we do use are recycled or disposed of in a way that does not damage our environment, particularly our marine environment. In this space, the Minister is working on proposals to ban microbeads before the end of the year, building on proposals that I know were made by Senator Grace O'Sullivan of the Green Party in recent times, and we are very keen to do exactly that.

In terms of the legislation that the Deputy suggests, I refer to the money message. First of all, before a money message can be issued, we first need to know roughly how much money it is going to cost. Second, we must know whether the Oireachtas has voted that money. It is obviously not credible to issue a money message without knowing how much something is going to cost, or whether the Oireachtas has voted that money. We then need to consider whether a scheme could be put in place that would not cost the Exchequer but might actually be cost-neutral. I encourage the Deputy to examine that and to see if he can refine the proposal before it goes to Committee Stage, to make sure that it is cost-neutral, that the polluter pays and that it does not impose additional costs on the Exchequer and the taxpayer. That is money that could go into education, healthcare, disability or other worthy causes.

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