Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That Seanad Éireann:

notes that:

- the current charge for the installation of a Non Domestic Small 1 connection (necessary for public water bottle refill stations) is €2,272;

- connection charges represent a significant impediment to the installation of public water bottle refill stations by local authorities and community groups;

further notes that:

- it is estimated that over 3 million plastic bottles are purchased in Ireland every day;

- Ireland is the highest producer of plastic packaging per capita in the European Union, producing 65kg of plastic waste per person each year, compared to the EU average of 33kg;

- microplastics have been documented in over 90 per cent of Ireland’s protected marine environments;

- plastic bottles are one of the most commonly found items in clean-ups in towns, villages and on beaches;

welcomes:

- the action already taken by the Government, such as the ban on some common single use plastic items, including cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, stirrers and straws;

- the Government’s intention to introduce a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and cans in February 2024;

- the increase in public buy-in regarding the reuse of bottles, cups, and other packaging;

recognises:

- the demand for access to free drinking water from people in towns and villages around the country;

- the demand from local authorities and community groups to install public water bottle refill stations;

- the basic human right of access to safe and clean drinking water;

and calls on Uisce Éireann and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to waive connection charges for local authorities and community groups seeking to provide a water connection to public water bottle refill stations.”

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. In summary, the motion states: "the current charge for the installation of a Non Domestic Small 1 connection (necessary for public water bottle refill stations) is €2,272; - connection charges represent a significant impediment to the installation of public water bottle refill stations by local authorities and community groups."

The motion further states: "it is estimated that over 3 million plastic bottles are purchased in Ireland every day," a large proportion of which contain water. The motion continues: "Ireland is the highest producer of plastic packaging per capita in the European Union, producing 65kg of plastic waste per person each year, compared to the EU average of 33kg; - microplastics have been documented in over 90 per cent of Ireland’s protected marine environments; - plastic bottles are one of the most commonly found items in clean-ups in towns, villages and on beaches," according to Tidy Towns Ireland and Irish Business Against Litter, IBAL.I welcome the actions already taken by the Government such as the ban on some common single-use plastic items including cotton buds, cutlery, plates, stirrers and straws. I welcome the Government’s intention to introduce a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and cans in February 2024 which is very exciting.

There is an increase in public buy-in regarding the re-use of bottles, cups and other packaging. I recognise the demand for access to free drinking water for people in towns and villages around the country and in our cities and the demand from local authorities and community groups to install public water bottle refill stations, together with the basic human right of access to safe and clean drinking water. I call on Uisce Éireann and on the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to waive connection charges for local authorities and community groups seeking to provide a water connection to public water bottle refill stations.

When we want a glass of water at home we reach for the glass and a tap but we cannot do that when we are on the go, and we are all on the go these days, everywhere. That is often why we buy water in plastic bottles but this is not good for the environment. It is damaging our climate and our planet, our streets, our rivers and our lakes. This water has to be manufactured and transported, consuming raw materials and energy. It also leads to single-use plastic waste which we can see every day. It also costs money. In fact, bottled water can cost more per litre than petrol or diesel. According to a recent Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, survey, 81% of the population own a reusable water bottle but, also, 80% of people do not know where they can refill it in a public place. These are astounding figures.

By providing easy access to free water refill points, we are trying to change how water is consumed when people are out and about. By using these refill points, we can create our own simple but positive climate action. I want to see these in every village, town and sports complex in the country. Every community group, GAA club and every Tidy Towns committee all have these issues with respect to picking up these plastic water bottles.

Four years ago I held a workshop with 80 teenagers from three secondary schools in Ennistymon. We discussed litter and the solutions to it. A very significant ask by the teenagers was the need for water bottle refill stations. I promised that I would start by getting one in the square in Ennistymon. This took me three years which I must admit is completely insane if we have any hope of sorting things out around plastic reduction. Things like this should not take three years.

The first step I took was to call the county council which asked me straight off if I had €2,300 for the connection fee. By God I said I did not, and I did not know where I would get it either. That was an immediate stumbling block. I then found out that I could use some of the discretionary fund that I receive as a councillor for that connection fee. I do not know, however, if that is the best use that my discretionary fund can be put to because I try to give it to community groups which are trying to fundraise. Luckily, as a councillor I was able to do that but not everybody is a councillor and has access to discretionary funds and, in fact, not every councillor has it either.

I was then thinking about community groups and sports facilities and, if they wanted such a connection, if they have to fundraise €2,300 also. It is not as if they do not do so much as volunteers already in trying to keep things going at a local level by volunteering. That was the impetus for this.

I had also seen a Green Party councillor, David Healy, in his constituency with a very nice flashy water connection and if they had one, then we had to have one, because they cannot just be in nice places in Dublin. I worked with my colleague Kate Ruddock, another Green Party councillor, did some research on this and that is why I am here today with this Private Members’ business.

I was lucky that I had the funding and I was also fortunate that I knew about this other State agency called the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, which many people do not know about, which operates through the local authorities. This office had funding for the units themselves. The unit I had put in is hands-free, is a small space, where one cannot fill, for example, 10 L with it, and it works. People use it, are always saying it is great that they are able to get the water and they use their bottles which they could not have done it otherwise.

I will say just a couple more things before I pass on to my colleagues. I highlight the fact that a great social enterprise or voluntary group,refill.ie, motivated me in some way, and this platform has this great map which shows all of the places it has managed to get to sign up which will allow one to go in and fill one’s water bottle for free. I have used that but it feels somewhat weird to walk into a restaurant, not to buy anything, and to ask them to refill one’s water bottle, even though it is a great initiative. I then thought that these refill points must be accessible on the street, as not everyone is as brazen as I am to go into a restaurant to look for a free bottle refill.

There is something in this and I do not believe it is a very significant ask or a very significant financial loss. I see that many secondary schools are having these refill points put into schools. I have sourced funding for many of the schools that I had worked with in Green-Schools to have these installed. The teenagers then had the habit of refilling their water bottle in school but once they were up town, anywhere else, or out at the weekends, they could not do that.

This is not a very big ask and is a very simple thing. If one can visualise water refill stations in every town, village and sports facility in the country, what a difference that would make to our pockets, our planet and to feeling a little less ridiculous about having a big plastic bottle of water, emptying it, throwing it away or recycling it. Recycling in any event is so 1980s at this stage that we have to reduce our use.

My final point is that every single plastic bottle comes directly from fossil fuels, from the oil we take out of the ground. What a waste of precious fossil fuels it is to turn it into something plastic we are going to use for perhaps a few seconds or a couple of hours and then throw away. I know that this issue went to Cabinet. I hope we get a positive response and I look forward to hearing the response of the Minister of State to this.

I will hand over to my colleague, Senator Martin. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach.