Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to be associated with the generous comments about the former Senator and TD, John Connor. I did not know him well, but his reputation as a parliamentarian, orator and committed public representative was well known the length and breadth of the country. I offer my sympathies to his family on this very sad occasion.

On Thursday, we will see the introduction of the plastic bottle Re-turn scheme. It is welcome, although a little confusing for people. There is a lack of understanding out there, although I understand that a media and information campaign is taking place, which is welcome. What worries me about this scheme is that it discriminates against small and even medium-sized shopkeepers. If someone buys bottles in a small shop, he or she has to go to a larger shop – usually a multiple – to return them. That person then gets a voucher to shop in the multiple, be it SuperValu, Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes Stores, Tesco or whatever. That is grossly unfair. Before the scheme was introduced, we should have ensured that there were community machines at, for example, bottle banks or outside local authority recycling centres to which people could return their bottles. There should have been an option for people to return bottles to a county council-operated facility, where they would get cash in return. The scheme is discriminatory towards small and medium-sized shopkeepers – the Spars, Centras and independent retailers – up and down the country. They cannot participate. They do not have the space or resources to install one of these machines. It is unfair. The Government took its eye off the ball in introducing a scheme that has created such discrimination against our small and medium-sized shopkeepers. I call on the Minister to take one of two steps: suspend the scheme or introduce these machines at county council facilities. I suspect that will not happen, but I encourage the Minister to provide resources immediately so that county councils can at least buy one per county – preferably one per municipal district – and get rid of this discrimination against our shopkeepers.