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

Would Senator Boylan have let her in?

This is a Bill to prevent the dumping of unsold products. There is a moral imperative on commercial bodies that are taking part in the circular economy to fulfil their obligations in the same way that we expect that individuals will segregate their waste. It is for that reason that I brought in regulations earlier in the summer that require commercial operators, entities and businesses to segregate their waste correctly. As a result, we have much higher streams of available plastics and organics for recycling than we would have had last year.

The Government is not opposing this Bill and supports its objectives. I welcome the opportunity to discuss it here today. I want to focus on the things that are needed to make this work, one of which is a supervisory regime. We need to have some way to see how much product is being destroyed by companies, some way of inspecting them and some way of being able to measure what is going on. Secondly, we need to deal with the problem of transportation. This is not waste we are talking about but unsold products. One of the fundamental tenets of the EU is the free movement of goods. A company that wishes to put all of its goods in a container and ship it to some other jurisdiction within the EU that does not have these rules for destruction could do so at any time. This is not far-fetched, given that a lot of waste in Ireland is put into containers and shipped abroad, often for incineration. It is normal for goods, even low-value or waste goods, to be shipped abroad. It is for this reason that we are looking at this at an EU level. If we bring in a rule that works in one country but that simply leads to a completely ineffective regime whereby all of the materials are moved to another country in the EU that has different rules, we will not achieve anything. There are EU rules about exporting waste outside the borders of the bloc, so we are already covered on that and we do not expect it to leave the EU but within the bloc, there is a fundamental right to move goods around. That is the reason we are looking at this ecodesign and sustainable products regulation. It is not a directive because directives take a long time to transpose, but a regulation which will have immediate effect across all EU countries. The timetable is for it to be completed before the end of the year.

Regarding the French approach, I met with the Minister of the Ecological Transition, Mr. Christophe Béchu, in May of this year. He will be in Ireland shortly and I will meet him again and will certainly discuss his experience of implementing the national law in France. I am always keen to see what is happening in other jurisdictions. My understanding of the law in France is that it prevents companies from destroying unsold goods but it does not prevent them from recycling them. Companies cannot put the goods into incineration or landfill but they are not forced to resell or donate them and my understanding is that the goods can be recycled. Furthermore, the law does not deal with the fact that the goods can be transported out of the country very easily, much more easily than in Ireland. I am interested in talking to Mr. Béchu about the outcome of the law they have introduced. All of that being said, I support this legislation. Indeed, I support any member of the Opposition who puts forward a Bill that is trying to achieve environmental aims. I support the aims of this Bill and the Government is not going to oppose it. I thank the Senators who tabled it.