Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did pen a rhyming couplet for the end so hopefully we will get this one on the record and the Minster can hear it. I am keen to see an effective response from the Minister. I know that his energy and enthusiasm when it comes to environmentalism is somewhat unparalleled and that he has hit the ground running on this issue. I was delighted to see he launched the single use plastics ban in the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, in my constituency, which is doing fantastic work in teaching people about both the inputs and the outputs and the impact on environmentalism. The Minister is absolutely right in what he says in that regard.

However, in terms of the waste providers and the practicalities of how current schemes work, it would strike me, and I imagine it would strike the Minister and the public, that in the instance where I buy a bottle of water or a bottle of Coca Cola, generally speaking, I do not bring the bottle home with me. There is no real incentive for me to recycle that. I would likely dispose of it in a public waste facility. There is no prospect of it being recycled. In other cities I visit, if I buy a product in a convenience store I can dispose of the bottle or the packaging in that convenience store. The existing waste providers do not like that. They argue that curbside collection costs might increase, and they might well increase, but in terms of practicalities, if I consume a product in the outside world and do not have an opportunity to bring it home with me there is no prospect of it being recycled. Similarly, the existing waste collectors do not pick up bottles, etc., on the road so there is no incentive currently to do so. Implementation of a scheme like this one might allow for more recycling.

I will go for a second rhyming couplet.

Roses are red, violets are blue,

Waste providers may not like the scheme,

but the Irish public do.

I hope the Minister will reflect on that and act accordingly.

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