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

Ireland’s strategic approach to the circular economy is set out in the whole-of-government Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2023. The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 provides a statutory basis for future iterations of the strategy and requires that such iterations include sectoral targets aimed at promoting circularity across the range of resource-intensive economic sectors specified in the Act. I believe Deputy Bruton asked for those sectoral targets to be included and I thank him for that amendment.

My Department is currently preparing the second iteration of the strategy. A circularity gap report has been commissioned as part of this work. This report will provide the required evidence base and technical analysis for the new strategy.

My Department is committed to conducting a comprehensive public and stakeholder consultation as part of the preparation of the strategy.

Two coalition roundtables were held in May and June with key stakeholders to assist in contributing to the emerging findings in the circularity gap report and help to shape the outcomes of the report by identifying barriers and enablers in sectors such as agriculture, bioeconomy, built environment and consumables to improve circularity. In 2023, despite significant climate action achievements in Ireland, particularly in renewable energy, active travel and funding delivery rates of committed actions for the year were not equal to the actions set out in the Climate Action Plan. This creates challenges for legally binding EU and national emissions reduction targets. The Climate Action Plan 2024 is focused on high-impact actions that will accelerate the action required to respond to the climate crisis, putting climate solutions at the centre of Ireland’s social and economic development.

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