Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I commend my comrade, Senator Boylan, on this excellent Bill. As we can hear from her contribution, it is more than timely. Indeed, to be frank, it should have been adopted as part of the circular economy Bill some months back and it was disappointing that the Minister of State rejected the opportunity at that time. Equally, I welcome the fact he is apparently now recognising that this is a Bill that should pass.

I was relatively new to this topic and anyone new to this topic must be shocked to find out that these global corporations are literally burying new and unused products in the ground in their hundreds of thousands, if not millions. That is what is happening in the world today. One of the key reasons it is happening is that there is a global chain of exploitation that works so efficiently for these companies, at the expense of human beings, of course, that it means they can produce these goods so cheaply that it often makes financial sense for them to plough them into the ground in order to not damage the status of their products in the marketplace.

I want to focus on the fashion side of things. I could talk about Burberry, Zara and H&M, all of which deliberately plough their new and unused products into the ground. Instead, I want to talk about Shein, the well-known online clothes company, which opened its Dublin HQ in May of this year. There have been many reports raising concerns around its business model and how it falls short of protecting workers’ rights, human rights and the environment. We cannot allow that kind of irresponsible practice to be the norm here in Ireland and we cannot wait for Europe to legislate for it before we do, as has been well explained by my colleague, Senator Boylan. Incidentally, right now, it is the European Union, with the support of the Government, that is blocking the adoption of a binding UN treaty on business and human rights that could go some way to ending these shameful manufacturing supply chains like that of Shein. The Minister of State might like to comment on that fact or perhaps even highlight it to his colleagues in Cabinet.

Reports have highlighted that Shein has 6,000 clothing factories in China, some reported as employing workers for as little as 4 cent per item, working 18-hour shifts, with a requirement to produce 500 items per person. The fabrics are cheap, often made from synthetic fossil fuel-based fabrics with toxic dyes and microplastics. The business model is one of ultra-fast fashion and they produce up to 10,000 new products a day. Most returns end up in landfill.

According to the Minister of State’s fellow Green Party member, Councillor Carolyn Moore, who sits on the Government’s waste advisory board, Ireland disposed of 110,000 tonnes of clothes in 2020. The point is that, so long as it is easy enough and a cheaper option to dump these unsold or returned products, the practice of over-production will continue. It is the practice of over-production that then drives companies to ignore human rights, environmental issues and workers’ rights. We should remember the Rana Plaza disaster. That was ten years ago and we are still talking about the lack of protection for workers’ rights in these kinds of factories. Despite some improvements in Bangladesh around safety and working conditions, several provisions in the labour laws have yet to be aligned with international labour standards.

When we hear about companies dumping electronics, such as laptops, televisions and so on, it is not just the idea that others could have had the use of them or that the components could have been recycled properly, it is also the horrible truth that there are children in some countries being used for rare mineral mining. Little do people realise that some of these rare minerals, such as cobalt, are mined by children and end up in global supply chains, including those of automobiles, banking, construction, cosmetics, electronics and jewellery. More than half of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where children, some as young as seven years of age, work in life-threatening conditions, subject to violence, extortion and intimidation. This cobalt has been traced to lithium batteries sold by major multinational companies. And all for what? For the products to be dumped in a landfill if they are returned or not sold.

My former manager, Jack O'Connor, late of SIPTU, used to refer to this practice as tooth and claw capitalism, and that is what it is. It is the ugly underbelly, the side of the business that we do not like to acknowledge is there, but it is there, and its implications for human beings across the globe are horrific. There is a cycle of wrongdoing throughout the whole supply chain that is caused by fast-fashion and a throwaway culture. We have to break that cycle. It starts with each country actively enforcing legislation to prevent the dumping of unsold goods, which in turn prevents overproduction. It will not solve everything but, at the very least, we need to punish these companies for burying their new and unused products in the ground. We need to make sure that it is such a punishment that they will actually stop the practice. That would be a significant step forward.

If the Minister of State is going to allow this Bill through today, which I believe he is, it would be appropriate if he would also commit to giving Government time so we can get this Bill passed as quickly as possible through this autumn.Why would we wait any longer given the horrific practices Senator Boylan and I have outlined? We can make a real difference. The Minister of State can join Sinn Féin in making a difference by supporting the Bill.