Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This is great. We have seen this work in other jurisdictions for many years. It is brilliant and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth for his work, as well as the work of the Green Party in government, in bringing this forward.

When we think in future of single-use plastics, we will ask, "What were we thinking of? What madness." I remember eight years ago I started a social enterprise campaign called Love Your Cup, in which every single business in Ennistymon and many of them in Ennis gave back 30 cent if people brought their own cup. We have therefore been leading the way in Clare. It was a great initiative because it reduced waste. I know that from talking to Tidy Towns groups, who could see the difference it made. We have a free refill station in Ennis and Ennistymon where people can refill their plastic bottles. There is lots of work being done in little spots, but it is to be hoped that seeing it coming across on a national level, where it will be rolled out everywhere, will bring us to a place where we do not take for granted this use of plastics. People do not know that plastic comes from fossil fuels. They also sometimes do not realise that when something ends up in a landfill or on the ground, it often ends up as microbeads and plastics in our oceans. We all know the damage that is doing to our oceans. This is a serious matter, and I welcome the hard work that the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, has put in to making this happen. I look forward to it being rolled out throughout the country.