Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome this suggestion. I will support the motion as well because it is an excellent one. It is the practical removal of a barrier and it supports people to produce less waste. We need more of these initiatives. When it comes to waste, I am of the view that we need to think in terms of good, better and best. It is good to recycle but it is much better to not produce the waste in the first place, and that is the aim of this initiative.

I have seen the benefit of these fountains in Fingal County Council. In my own area around Dublin 15, we have them in our parks. I find it hard to believe that there are still county councils that are not doing this because we need to see more of them. I have highlighted places like the Phoenix Park, for instance, where there could be more access to fountains like this. I acknowledge that there are challenges in providing fountains and toilets in the Phoenix Park because of access to water supply. However, it should be possible to introduce these in places with high footfall where people are out and about and need them. It is important to put this back on the agenda because during Covid, consumption of single-use plastic increased. We seemed to go backwards regarding single-use disposable items. We have to get the people's mindset back to reusing where possible and being aware of personal consumption.

I completely support the measure but we should focus on the good approach to recycling as well. I see that the deposit return scheme is mentioned here. Our figures for recycling are around the 60% to 70% level. When I think of in-home and out-of-home consumption, that figure resonates with me. We have produced a recycling system in our homes for food, plastics and aluminium cans, but we are not doing that well enough outside the home. We have a major issue with waste outside the home, on the go, which is where a lot of consumption takes place. What are people supposed to do? Are they supposed to buy a can or bottle of something and then carry it around with them all day until they get home to put it in the recycling bin? That is not practical. We are not investing enough in recycling options in our communities. The deposit return scheme is another incentive to get people to recycle. I am really looking forward to it being introduced. However, we do not want it to undermine what we are doing in people's homes. We need it to work and to do so, it has to be convenient. People who are buying products on the go want to use them and dispose of them immediately afterwards, unfortunately. The deposit return machines need to be installed in places where they are a part of people's journey. They need to be in the local retailer, for example. They need to be positioned so that people do not have to go out of their way to find them; otherwise, they will not be used as frequently as they could. People are not going to store up their waste and then bring it to a certain location like a bottle bank. The deposit return machines need to be where people are buying and using the product so they can also dispose of the product responsibly.I very much look forward to seeing an ecosystem for waste because we do not have an effective ecosystem to deal with the amount of waste we are producing. Until we have the mindset of reusing instead of continually using, we have to support both. It is unrealistic to think people will never buy bottled water, soft drinks or the like on the go.

I am aware that Panda has introduced a €3.80 charge for food waste. That is going backwards from where we need to be. I think people are so much more aware of microplastics - their effects on them from a health perspective and on the environment - but food waste is still not really resonating with people as the issue it is. We need to get much better at our consumption in the first place, but putting in place barriers of €3.80 per lift is not the direction of travel we want.

I thank the Green Party. Well done on a great motion.