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

As it happens, I was very ill the day the committee discussed it but it is extraordinary that such a large portion of a Bill on the circular economy is given over to CCTV, drone footage and the issue of illegal dumping. I am aware it is a huge problem but it is also one that needs to be targeted at businesses and corporate transgressions. The nuts and bolts of setting up surveillance itself may lead to the mushrooming of a surveillance industry. Ironically, this could see sophisticated digital machinery manufacturing, which often leaves us needing rare earth materials. The proliferation of that is severely at odds with the ambition of any kind of circular economy.

This morning I was talking to the lads who run the park where I live in Ballyfermot. They are constantly picking up bags from illegal dumping. The council picks up the waste. The private bin collectors do not contribute anything to it. Millions are spent every year by local authorities to deal with the consequences of very high bin charges. Having just one answer, that is, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance does two things - it does not address the root of the problem and it creates another poisonous and toxic industrial practice around the surveillance industry. It leaves the State picking up the pieces again and does not deal with the climate impact of these issues.

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