Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate getting an opportunity to speak on this debate. I have congratulated the Minister and the Minister of State privately but I want to do so publicly here and wish them every good luck in their new roles.

The issue of plastics is a great concern to all of us. We want to protect the environment, the human inhabitants of the world as well as our wildlife. We have seen the horrors of the programme that showed what is happening in our seas. It is horrific beyond belief.

As a small retailer for a good number of years, I have seen first hand the benefits of the small charge that was introduced for plastic bags. I acknowledge that it was a culture changing event. However, again as a small shopkeeper, I see first hand the amount of unnecessary plastics used in the packaging and delivery of the goods that we consume. There is no need for half of the plastic, indeed there is probably not a need for even 15% or 20% of the plastic that we use daily. We need something like the culture changing event that took place when people had to pay for plastic bags. They stopped using them overnight. Now it is an unusual thing for a person to say that they want a plastic bag, but it is usually for a genuine reason, such as there being lots of small things falling around, and they need the convenience. However, I believe we can go further than we went on that occasion and that each one of us can do an awful lot more.

I compliment our farmers who are so conscientious with silage plastic, where it is bundled up and recycled, and put to very good uses such as rubber mats for underneath animals. Our farming community is doing this already and we as ordinary consumers can do it much more and to greater effect.

Walking the beaches of west Clare, it is absolutely amazing to see the amount of plastic washed up on them. This takes a huge toll on our marine environment, our fish stocks and on human health. It is thought that we are in possession of a single use plastic item for at most 15 minutes, but it takes decades or centuries for that plastic item to degrade, be it plastic cups, straws, plastic wrapping on containers or vegetables and other food stuffs, and also the wrapping on consumer items such as children's toys. The town of Kilkee in west Clare engaged in a very interesting initiative this summer called "Keep Kilkee Plastic Free". Businesses in Kilkee committed to avoiding the use of plastic and the sale of plastic to visitors and residents. They banned the use of plastic coffee cups and straws. Financial incentives were given to businesses to participate, and waste segregation bins were installed in Kilkee by Clare County Council. It is estimated that 10,000 litres of recyclable material was diverted away from landfill. Such voluntary action is very effective.

Plastic pollution is a visible sign that we are living in an unsustainable fashion. The iconic scientist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, predicted that we will destroy our environment in years to come and that it will be impossible for human life to continue on earth. We are talking about the future generations, our children and our grandchildren and generations beyond them. Supermarkets are waking up to the issue and are beginning to ban plastic usage. They are taking plastic wrappings off vegetables and banning plastic cutlery on shelves. Apart from voluntary avoidance of single plastic use, and apart from the new industries that are now being set up to introduce compostable alternatives, political will is required to introduce legislation or to enact legislation that is already in place which will ban and underpin the use of single use plastics.

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