Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to go into that. If there is a situation whereby there is a virgin plastic tax in a nearby jurisdiction, that creates an incentive to export goods from Ireland to be processed in that jurisdiction. There is a mismatch in that regard. It makes it harder if that country is no longer a member of the EU and is not subject to the same rules. We must decide if we are going to impose a plastic tax in Ireland at the same rate and consider whether that is the right thing to do. At the same time, we must consider what the effect will be on consumers and prices. We must also ensure not to create something like the cash for ash situation where a particular payment is unsustainable and unpayable. I accept we need to watch the incentives available in other countries. We must ensure our market is not distorted and that is why we are continuing to engage with the company the Deputy mentioned earlier, which I believe is the only PET recycling firm in the country. I take the Deputy's points.

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