Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The deposit return scheme is the scheme through which people pay extra for their drinks in bottles and cans, to be reclaimed afterwards from machines that are usually in supermarkets. It is described as a circular economy initiative. We are told it is about helping the environment. Why then is so much of the plastic that is collected needlessly shipped out of Ireland? There is a company in this State that can recycle the plastic. It is Shabra Plastics and Packaging, which is based in my constituency. It creates local employment, contributes to the Irish economy and provides an environmentally sound point to recycle the plastic collected in Ireland. Here is the scandal. By June this year 17,000 tonnes of plastic will have been collected under the scheme but only 3,400 tonnes of it will have been recycled in the State. This means that 88% of the plastic collected under what is called an environmental scheme is actually being shipped to locations throughout the world. Does the Tánaiste accept this is environmentally ludicrous and goes against the principle of the scheme? Will he, as Tánaiste, along with the Taoiseach knock whatever heads need to be knocked together to sort out this scandal?

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