Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their contributions. Many people are not aware of the huge amount of work that goes on in my Department in regard to the marine environment. There is not a great awareness of my responsibility in this area, as my public engagements tend to be dominated by the housing crisis. However, from the OSPAR Commission to the British-Irish Council, we are involved in a great deal of work in this area, particularly in respect of the closer marine environment region, to ensure that we bring forward the most progressive proposals we can. This work is not just about legal changes but also comprises the awareness campaigns that need to be done. They are aimed not so much at young people, because they already get it, but at informing those who are out of education and may not be in tune with the new scientific studies and discoveries. In the United Kingdom, there has been something of a national awakening as a result of things like the BBC's "Blue Planet" and "Blue Planet II" series, which featured footage of a young calf whale who suffocated after consuming plastic. At one of the conferences I attended, the politicians from the UK were all talking about the moment in which it clicked in their heads, as it had done for the British population, that something needed to be done. It is important to recognise, as Senator Lombard did, the contribution our officials have made in this area on behalf of Ireland. Notwithstanding the important work that was progressed by former Senator, Grace O'Sullivan, and Deputy Sherlock, it has been Ireland's official position since 2015 that the EU should ban microplastics.

Senator Murnane O'Connor spoke about the political process in terms of dealing with these issues. It is true that former Senator, Grace O'Sullivan, and Deputy Sherlock led the way in introducing legislation, which we then took and sought to progress as fast as we could. I acknowledge that the delays were frustrating but it is good to see everybody piling in behind what is now an agreed position on microbeads and microplastics. We are not working to EU deadlines but to our own deadlines. In fact, this legislation is more progressive than what is required under current EU law. We did not rush things. We had two public consultations, the first of which received more than 3,000 responses, making it one of the largest ever responses to a public consultation. There has been a huge public awareness campaign on these issues. Industry is well aware of what we have proposed and what is coming. The EPA was allocated €250,000 for the first year of enforcement and its powers are significant, with the possibility for transgressors of five years in jail and a €3 million penalty if indicted. These are not small penalties to suffer where one is found to be in breach of the law. There will be no waiting period in terms of these provisions; once the legislation passes, I will be in a position to bring it into law almost immediately.

Senator Murnane O'Connor and others referred to marine protected areas. We have given a commitment to designate 10% of our seas as such, at a minimum, and I have already said that this is not good enough. Our marine area is seven times the landmass for which we are responsible. Even 10% of that is huge, but we can go bigger. Some weeks ago, I appointed Professor Tasman Crowe of UCD to put together a committee to advise the Government on how we can go beyond the 10% designation level and what else we should do in this area. At the same time, we are bringing forward new planning legislation for the marine area, a new marine spatial strategy and a new marine policy statement. Huge reforms are happening in this area which will help us to protect what is an important source of wealth for us as an island nation. I do not use "wealth" in the traditional sense in this context. When one goes to events organised by Clean Coasts, for example, one can see how much people love and respect the marine environment. We must continue to protect that environment for future generations.

I agree with Senator Lombard that when we get things right, working together, we can be at the vanguard of what the EU is doing. Indeed, this Bill is among the most progressive of any legislation introduced by member states for the purpose of banning microbeads. I agree that the public cares about the environment. We have several positive programmes in place that are helping to advance even more awareness to communities about the importance of beach cleans and so on. The Love Your Coast photography awards have been running successfully for ten years or so. Such initiatives help us to promote to the public the importance of protecting our coastlines and marine and freshwater environments. Another group of people doing important work alongside the Government's efforts is the Riptide Movement, which created a huge plastic whale and brought it around the country to demonstrate to people the quantities of plastics we are putting into the ocean. The Riptide Movement is a popular band with a young following. When its members show that they care about these issues, it makes it easier for younger people to get involved and show their support. I welcome Senator Lombard's acknowledgment of the work done by departmental officials in this area.

I thank Senator Warfield for his support, on behalf of Sinn Féin, for these proposals. It is easy to work across party lines and with Independent Members when people are genuine about what they are doing and recognise the importance of compromise. We must be careful not to sacrifice the good for the perfect. There is a lot more we want to do in this area but it is important to acknowledge that in bringing forward these provisions, we are doing something which no other EU country has done.We are extending the ban on microbeads in cosmetics to cleaning detergents, which are a significant source of microbeads and microplastic pollution in our water courses. A study of marine life carried out by researchers at NUI Galway indicates that 73% of deepwater fish have microplastics in them, which is a shockingly high percentage. There has been public engagement on things such as the "Blue Planet II" television programme. It was recently reported in the media that when the stomach of a whale that died in the Orkneys was opened, a significant volume of plastic waste was found. Of course, there have been reports of two land masses floating in our oceans. They are almost the size of continents and are made of plastic that we produced and allowed to be put into the marine environment. Senators should think of the destructive damage that plastic is causing to the marine environment.

Senator Hackett is correct on the learning point she raised. Everyone now knows what a microbead is and nobody bats an eyelid when reference is made to microplastics. Some years ago, people might have had to ask what are microbeads. Once one could refer to a cleaning product or facial scrub, people got the idea about microbeads and what they mean. We are constantly learning about where the science is and the areas in which damage and destruction could be caused, as well as how to best go about tackling those challenges. The Bill, which builds on legislation brought forward by former Senator Grace O'Sullivan and Deputy Sherlock a couple of years ago, is more robust than any other EU law in this area. Once we pass it, we will be in a position to push the EU to bring in ever more progressive laws on single-use plastics and other products containing microplastics. It will set a standard for other EU countries to meet, which is important. We consulted before the derogation. GMIT supported us in our work on the derogation because we wanted to make sure we got it right. That support was very welcome and helpful.

Senator Humphreys referred to this being bigger than the simple legislation. In a way, I agree with him. We both represent coastal communities and I know we both love our coast. There is a message here. The Bill signifies an Oireachtas, rather than just a Government, party or individual, that is trying to bring in robust laws recognising what we have known for several years. We need to take action in these areas through robust legislation, strong enforcement powers and, where possible, going further and leading other EU nations, as we are doing. He is correct that this is one step in the process. There is far more that we want to do. We must do it as best we can in tandem with our EU partners, going further where we can and seeing whether they can catch up with us. We must recognise that because we are in a union, we must ensure we are aligned in as many ways as possible, hence some of the changes to the definitions in the Bill following the derogation request.

On the issues raised by Senator Higgins, I cannot speak to the events in 2016. Ireland's official EU position has been to ban microbeads and we are now able to do so, which is welcome. I addressed her point regarding SACs, which are important. Our marine environment is seven times larger than our land mass. Even 10% of it is significant. We will go further than that. The committee to which the Senator referred has been established. The chair was appointed and the remaining members were approved by me in the past four weeks. They will report to me in the course of next year on how we can go further. That will take place in tandem with public consultations on our marine spatial strategy, which will begin and end in the first quarter of next year.

We have listened every step of the way on potential loopholes. I have made changes with officials following our engagement with Senators and Deputies. Some of the changes were held off line to avoid unnecessary delay in the passage of the legislation. We are banning what we know we can ban now, given the constraints on us as a member of the European Union and without breaching EU law, while recognising that we need to go further; we will do so. By going this far, which is further than anyone else, we will be in a very strong position to be the instigator of further swift change within the EU.

I am a big believer in reviewing new legislation within a year. One must take time after a year to see how the policy impacted when it left the House and hit the real world. I will ask the EPA to report on implementation of the Bill. I have that power under the legislation. There will be an examination of how it has used its resources and additional funding to enforce the Bill and ensure that people are not trying to circumvent or breach it. That will be an important task to be undertaken.

We are not being dragged anywhere. We are not doing the bare minimum but, rather, going further. We should recognise and celebrate the fact that we have taken a more ambitious step than those taken to date by our EU partners. We are at the vanguard of the changes happening across the EU in terms of banning microbeads. We should champion that message with the public and let them know that politicians are listening and leading on their behalf.