Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Alternative means need to be looked at but, like anything, we do not have the transition period we would like. I have spoken to a number of contractors and farmers who have invested in serious plants that can only be used with these types of plastic. We are talking about people who have made an outlay of approximately €80,000. There is a need to engage with the stakeholders. If there are alternatives that are fit for purpose, this discussion needs to be had very quickly. That is the significant issue. There needs to be engagement with stakeholders. They will state that they are not quite sure these alternatives are fit for purpose and ready to go. Again, the difficulty for some of them arises from the fact that they have put a serious amount of money into this plant and did not see this coming. It is an unintended consequence which relates to the fact that there is no distinction between oxo-degradable plastic and other oxo-degradable material. Can anything be done at European or national level? Could a derogation or mitigation be secured, even in the short term?

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