Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will speak briefly because, as Senator Ruane outlined, this is more about getting things on record. I certainly agree with that. It is unfortunate that my amendment was ruled out of order. I know we are not dealing with that section now, but Senator Dooley's comments make my contribution relevant at this point.

In the hierarchy of waste management, recycling and composting are down the list. We must get things out of our system and we do not need to be creating more waste while saying some of it is better than others. Fundamentally, this is about removing waste from the system from the start. It is quite difficult to compost items that are not composed of organic material in the same sense that food is. It is quite expensive, and there are also environmental costs involved.

It is important to note that we are talking about a levy for these paper cups but not a ban. That distinction is really important. My amendment would have addressed part of Senator Dooley's point. I know Senator McGahon will raise the same point. It concerns poor-quality alternatives. There is space in the Bill for this. I am thankful that the Minister of State indicated that he will come back on this matter on Report Stage. We do not want to find cheap alternative plastics being labelled as reusable and people using them instead.

Many businesses, including cafés, are very successfully operating zero waste policies. There are businesses like this cropping up around the country, and there are new opportunities for business. Those manufacturers of cups have alternatives. They are also manufacturing other items. It is not just about cups. There is no question of job losses, from what I have seen, and it seems that there are opportunities. We must get on the road with this and say that no waste is good. We must put in place something that creates alternatives for people.