Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator van Turnhout's comments on the campaign to stop out of control drinking which was launched today by the drinks industry. The title and drive behind it seems to say that any drinking that is not out of control is fine. Business is business so I can understand what motivates the drinks companies but this is a public health issue. Our relationship with drink needs some serious work. In the context of recent legislation on below cost selling and the like, I would welcome a debate on the issue. The Leader is probably trying to arrange for same because it was requested a couple of weeks ago.

Litter is an issue that seems to have reared its head in Dublin in recent times. Some years ago a rebate system operated when one returned glass bottles. We could do worse than introduce a rebate system to encourage the recycling of plastic bottles and containers which are deposited. Dublin City Council, in particular, could introduce a scheme and perhaps give 10 cent per glass or plastic bottle recycled. In an international context, a number of cities across the world have successfully implemented the scheme and people receive anywhere between 5 cent and 20 cent per glass or plastic bottle returned. The money spent on the rebate can easily be offset against the benefit of having a cleaner environment in a physical and ecological sense. Dublin City Council had a budgetary surplus coming into this year so there are funds available for this scheme. A trial period of three months could be set aside. If there was a rebate of 5 cent per bottle then a €30,000 funding package could see over 600,000 returned. This is something we should consider.