Sharon Keogan (Independent)

I call for a debate with the Minister for the environment, Deputy O’Brien, to come in to talk to us about the big problems we are seeing with the return scheme. It turns out that 90% of the plastics collected have been shipped overseas because it is just not worth processing them here. In 2024, it is estimated that we sold 1.7 billion cans and bottles, but only about 900 million have been returned. That leaves 800 million cans not returned, but they still get a 20 cent per can or bottle bonus on their year-end balance sheets. This feels like another sneaky tax, since the return scheme pockets all the money from the cans and bottles that do not get returned. We need the Minister in here to explain why we cannot recycle these plastics in Ireland and what all the extra profits from the return scheme will be used for. Consumers are already paying for recycling bins, so this feels like they are getting hit with a double tax.