Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Senator Boylan, on the way she has led on this issue for some considerable time now. The Minister of State may recall that she originally wanted to amend the circular economy Bill but, regrettably, the Minister rejected that amendment at the time, which would have put the essence of this Bill into practice.

I will take up Senator Kyne’s valid point on what kind of model allows this to happen. It is something we need to dwell on. Frankly, it is model of shocking exploitation and the very worst aspects of capitalism. My old boss, Jack O’Connor, referred to it as “tooth-and-claw capitalism”.

I could talk about Burberry, Zara and H&M – household brands that are in shopping centres right throughout the country, all of which have ploughed their products into the ground as policy. However, I will mention Shein in particular because it is so well known. Shein is an online clothes company that opened its Dublin headquarters in May. There have been many reports in which concerns were raised about its business model and how it falls short of protecting workers’ rights, human rights and the environment. Basically, reports have highlighted that Shein has 6,000 clothing factories in China. Some are reported as paying people as little as 4 cent per item. People are working 18-hour shifts and are required to produce 500 items each. The products are cheap and often made from synthetic fossil-fuel based fabrics containing toxic dyes and microplastics. The business model is one of ultra-fast fashion that produces up to 10,000 new products every day. When you have a model like that and that level of exploitation, it allows companies to make a very calculated decision to the effect that it is better for them to plough products into the ground because they are so cheaply produced. That way, they can still maintain the value of the products they do sell. That is the model. It is rotten to the core. I could give loads of other examples.

That is why there is a real imperative here. I agree with Senator Kyne that there is a moral imperative to take action. Of course, we are pleased the Minister of State is not opposing the Bill, but there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm on his part, if he does not mind me saying so. I am genuinely puzzled by that. As a Green Party Minister of State, he should not just be allowing this Bill to pass, rather, he should be telling us when he will be back for Report Stage in order that we can get this done in the Seanad. He should tell us if there are amendments to be made and let us get those done too. Let us get the legislation through the Dáil also and get it working.

As Senator Boylan pointed out, in reality, we are some years away from EU regulations being in place, implemented and working. She also already pointed out that the EU is talking about quite a narrow frame of reference. As the Minister of State acknowledged, it is just textile clothing at the moment. It may go further, but we do not know. The Bill before us deals with electronic products, textiles, clothes, shoes, furniture, ink cartridges, hygiene products, food preservation and cooking equipment, leisure products, books and school equipment. Imagine if we took the approach to banning smoking in pubs that the Minister of State appears to be taking in respect of this matter. Imagine if we said we would wait until the EU reached agreement on the matter. We would still be waiting. As a country, we need to take the lead on this. That is what Senator Boylan’s Bill is giving the Minister of State and all of us an opportunity to do. These shocking practices need to be highlighted and curtailed.

I refer to the video we saw earlier as part of Senator Boylan’s presentation. Every school should show it. It lasts four and a half minutes and one sees first hand the practices of Amazon in ploughing new products into the ground. Brand new laptops, brand new hoovers and all types of electronic items are literally being ploughed into the ground in order to maintain the profits of the companies involved. They factor all this in. It is cheaper to plough excess products into the ground than allow them onto the market because this would impact on both the price and these companies' profits. This is all calculated. The model is rotten to the core and has to be challenged. France has taken first steps. Why would the Minister of State not take steps on behalf of our country and be enthusiastic about the Bill? He has full support from everyone in this Chamber, to be fair.

I commend Senator Boylan on the Bill. The frustrating part of it is that unless we get the Government to really engage on the Bill, we will not get it completed. What a shocking missed opportunity that would be. We want to work with the Minister of State on this. I ask him to please work with us on this Bill.