Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise two separate but somewhat interconnected issues. In recent years, we have all become used to the hype around the so-called Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.This practice is the latest in a long line of fads that have been imported into Ireland from America, although not all of them are negative. As recent reporting indicates, it tends to be more focused on online sales to the detriment of the retail sector. This is great news for consumers, but Retail Ireland, an affiliate of IBEC, warned recently that the trend only had damaging impacts on Irish retailers because of the very deep discounts that the practice tended to incur. Many retailers are reassessing the practice for this reason. In reality, there is very little we can do or would want to do to deter online shopping, but we must do everything we possibly can to make it attractive for people to buy Irish and shop locally, particularly in town and village centres which are falling victim to larger shopping centres, often on the periphery of towns.

This prompts reflection on another serious matter discussed briefly on radio this morning. It concerns the amount of packaging generated by online shopping, for which the figures are extraordinary. Repak estimates that 10,000 tonnes of waste will be created by online shopping this year. It is incredible to quantify it in this way, but 1.74 million parcels were delivered by An Post over the Christmas period last year, an increase of over one quarter on the figure for the same period in 2017. I am not surprised as one of my relatives seems to be one of the best customers. Hardly a day goes by without a ringing of the doorbell and a package being delivered. It costs €500,000 per annum to collect and manage this waste. Repak's members which comprise large and small businesses alike foot the bill every year. They are subsidising the collection and processing of what we put in our green bins.

It seems that online retailers based in foreign jurisdictions, with the exception of Amazon, are not contributing to the fund. Essentially, Irish businesses are subsidising the recycling of packaging supplied by foreign businesses, which seems to be grossly unfair and anti-competitive. It seems EU legislation, as it stands, unwittingly, allows this to happen as there is a gap in the law under EU packaging regulations. It is also a problem for other countries. The best way to deal with the matter is through amendment of the regulations and the introduction of EU-wide legislation governing the process and ensuring a level playing field. In the interim we need to discuss the matter with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and consider if the Department is aware of the matter or what it plans to do about it, either at local or European level. We could also debate whether it would be appropriate to consider putting in place some voluntary contribution from online retailers similar to the way in which Amazon apparently is partaking. It is a matter we should discuss and I would like to hear from the Government on it. We must address it as best we can to protect both the environment and Irish businesses and jobs.