Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ward for raising this matter which, of course, I consider a priority. Ireland's national waste policy, a Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy 2020, sets out Ireland's commitment to tackle the environmental degradation caused by single-use plastics and packaging and includes our ambition to lead EU efforts in dealing with disposable cups through the introduction of a single-use cup levy. An environmental levy on single-use hot cups, commonly referred to as the coffee cup levy, is now being introduced to incentivise people to choose reusable cups and to help reduce single-use waste. The levy will be extended to cold drink cups over time. It is a fact that millions of single-use cups are being sent to landfill or incineration every year in Ireland. The Environmental Protection Agency's latest waste characterisation study indicates coffee cups account for approximately 14,000 tonnes of non-household waste each year, which equates to around 730 million coffee cups every year.This is an entirely avoidable waste and I want to prevent it occurring by incentivise people to use reusable cups. The levy will operate in much the same way as the existing plastic bag levy that successfully transformed our use of single use plastic bags. Ireland was a world leader in introducing that levy and our use of these bags has fallen by 90% because of the relatively modest charges placed on their use. In the same way, by introducing a levy on single use cups for hot drinks, Ireland can again demonstrate positive leadership in environmental protection. Last year, following the signing of the circular economy Act, I published the draft regulations to introduce an environmental levy on single use disposable cups, together with a comprehensive regulatory impact assessment which is for public consultation. The consultation ran for a period of six weeks during October and November 2022, and provided an important opportunity for all stakeholders to make their views on this important matter known.

The consultation comprised three strands. The first strand targeted members of the public and consumers of takeaway beverages. The second strand targeted retailers or other traders who sell takeaway beverages and will be required to implement the levy. The third and final strand was targeted at all other stakeholders such as businesses operating in the cup manufacturing distribution or related industries, public sector bodies, NGOs and representative bodies.

The Department received a significant volume of responses to this consultation and 2,371 submissions in total were received across all three strands registering a wide range of views on the application of the levy. The summary consultation report was published online by the Department in December and a full report, including copies of all submissions received, will be published shortly. Submissions received are also being used to inform an SME test, recommended by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and shall be published along with the results of the consultation.

Once I have fully assessed the output from the consultation process the regulations will be finalised and submitted to Government for approval before I sign them. In finalising the regulations I will first agree a suitable commencement date with the Revenue Commissioners, as the proposed collection authority. That discussion with the Revenue Commissioners is currently under way and in any event I have committed to giving retailers at least three months from when the regulations are signed before commencement of the levy to ensure adequate preparation time. I will use that time to raise awareness of the levy among the public and among retailers. Want I want people to see is that they do not have to pay a levy because they are using reusable cups and that retailers do not have to charge the levy by providing reusable options for their customers, so it is a win-win.