Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I join all my colleagues in congratulating Deputy Bacik. I was lucky to be here with her last week for the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill. She participated in that and had done so much to get it over the line. It was fitting that her last contribution was during that debate. I am sad not to see her here today but we will see her in the corridors soon and she will be in this Chamber before too long. I too pay tribute to everyone who put their names forward. A by-election is first past the post and it is difficult for people to put themselves forward but if you do not put yourself forward for the first time, there will never be a second. Deputy Bacik shows that continuing to put yourself forward pays off in the end.

Today, an event from two years ago came up on my Facebook feed. It was an event on zero waste where people came in to us and helped support each other in finding other uses and a practical way of contributing to a circular economy. One thing that has gone under the radar a little is that last weekend the single-use plastics directive was signed into law here. The regulations were signed by the Minister at the weekend. People may not that realise 70% of plastic waste in the marine environment comes from ten products. Most of those are now banned in Ireland, which is momentous for our ocean life and goes to show the importance of being part of the European Union and engaging in that debate.

Bonne fête nationale à La France. Il y a un bon relation entre nos pays que ne peut que sais après le Brexit alors que La France deviant notre plus proche voison de l’Union Européenne.