John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 7. I had not realised it was included in the group. The amendment gives a European context. There is a very good article in The Irish Timestoday in which that context is outlined. Amendment No. 7 would ensure that, within the interpretation of what constitutes a single-use cup, items that contain 10% plastic content or less would be excluded from being subjected to a levy or a ban. This outlines a better possibility by looking to the international implementations of the single-use plastics directive mentioned in the newspaper article in question. Italy is a good example in this regard because it applies an environmental levy to products with a plastic content above the 10% level. That is the key aspect.

Single-use items may be made of recyclable and renewable material. As Senator Dooley said, some contain a wafer-thin level of plastic. If the Bill focused on such items with the plastic content above this threshold, it would ensure that those products with the highest percentage of plastic would be the subject of a levy, thus facilitating an immediate 90% reduction in single-use plastic consumption. The knock-on effect would be to encourage consumer behaviour to move away from the purchasing of single-use cups that are 100% plastic or at least have a greater plastic content than alternatives which contain 10% plastic or less. We were doing some research on this but the article in The Irish Times really stands out in the context of international comparisons. I am interested in the Minister of State's view of that matter.