Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will not be surprised to hear that I am disappointed with his first outing as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment in opposing the Bill and not issuing a money message to prevent its progress. Deputy Paul Murphy has raised most of the important points much better than I could, but the last point he made is often overlooked in this argument, namely, that conventional plastic is made from fossil fuels and that the plastic industry is controlled by the fossil fuel industry. While researching this issue, I was interested to learn that ethylene which is used to make most plastic products nowadays was a by-product in the extraction of shale gas, which occurs widely across North America, when ethane and propane are brought together in a cracking facility. As the use of shale gas is the most cost-effective way of producing ethylene in the United States, it and its oil industry are pushing up the use of gas to a level that is quite frightening. We expect the level of production of plastic to increase in the next 20 years by four times. By 2050 there will have been a quadrupling of the production of plastic on the planet.

Recyclers, individuals and campaigners who care about the environment such as the schoolchildren whom Deputy Catherine Martin mentioned are not the polluters. The polluters are the producers and it is they on whom we must keep an eye. Unfortunately, however, the Government's display is to lie down in front of them and state there might be unforeseen consequences for the industry. There is no doubt that the industry lobbies the likes of the Minister to ensure it will keeps its lucrative position through its proposals to continue offshore drilling and gas. A Bill will be brought before a committee in the next while, but by abstaining on these proposals the Government is ignoring the fact that the world needs to move to renewables. Ignoring this issue means that the plastic industry will refuse to recognise the social and political demand on the citizens of this planet to do something about it. It behoves the Government to take the lead on this matter.

The previous Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, said the Bill might have unforeseen consequences for the waste management industry through losing profits and possibly having to pass on the cost to people who pay their bin charges. We must reject this. This is the industry of Tony Soprano, in which there is cut-throat competition, that makes vast profits and keeps companies offshore. We do not even get to see its profits, but it pushes up costs all the time, which is why it is important that we begin to make the argument that waste management must be taken back under public control in order that it will be accountable. The systems used in Scandinavian countries and even in cities across America must be implemented by a publicly accountable body, not by a waste management industry about which the Minister seems to be so concerned that he will not issue a money message.

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