Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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98. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the steps the Government plans to take to support the move to reusable cups to reduce waste from disposable coffee cups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60476/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Legislative powers are in place, through the Circular Economy Act 2022, to implement environmental levies on a range of single use products including single-use cups, single-use containers and other forms of single-use packaging.

In 2022, the Department commissioned a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) on the introduction of a levy on single use cups and a public consultation on draft regulations was undertaken. It was envisaged, at the time, that a levy might be introduced in a similar way to the plastic bag levy (i.e. at the point of sale in a retail premises).

Following further engagement with the Revenue Commissioners, a different collection model, collecting the levy when cups are first placed on the market by producers or importers, was discussed. Such a revision would require an amendment of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022. The Department continues to work with the Revenue Commissioners on this.

Furthermore, the Department has recently commissioned an update to the RIA which will explore the potential impacts of the revised collection model and any other policy measure to reduce single use cup consumption effectively.

The Department is progressing a range of initiatives to reduce single use plastic consumption across all mandated products targeted by the Single Use Plastic Directive. Although the levy on single use cups is not in place yet, many consumers and businesses have already made the switch to reusable cups, thereby saving the purchase cost of throw-away cups and reducing the cost to the public purse of litter clean-ups.