I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to the Chamber this morning.

I welcome the Minister of State to the floor of the Seanad.

Today, I wish to speak about and call for legislation on an issue that goes right to the heart of child protection in our schools, the recognition of our special needs assistants, SNAs, as mandated persons under the Children First Act 2015.

Every day across Ireland, SNAs stand on the front line of care for our most vulnerable children, those with additional and complex needs. They are not occasional visitors in a classroom. They are a constant, trusted presence in the lives of the children they support. They help these children learn, communicate, move and participate. They are the ones who provide comfort during moments of distress, who manage personal care with dignity and compassion and who often spend more one-on-one time with a child than any one else in the school.

Because of that closeness, SNAs are often the first to notice when something is not right - a change in behaviour, a sudden withdrawal, an unexplained bruise or simply something that feels off. They are the adults that many children will go to first when they are upset or afraid. In many cases, they are the trusted bridge between the child and the wider world.

Despite this vital role, SNAs are not currently recognised as mandated persons under the Children First Act. That, in my view, is a serious gap in our child protection system. It leaves these dedicated professionals uncertain about their legal obligations, and it risks delays in identifying or reporting potential abuse or neglect. We rightly expect our schools to be places of safety and vigilance, but we cannot achieve that if those who work most closely with vulnerable children are left outside the mandated framework.

If we are serious about creating a culture of vigilance, accountability and care, every adult who has direct and sustained contact with children, especially in intimate care roles, must be both empowered and required to act when they have a concern. Recognising SNAs as mandated persons would not only strengthen the law, it would acknowledge their professionalism, their skill and the deep duty of care they already demonstrate every day in our schools. This is not about adding bureaucracy, it is about recognising reality. SNAs are already doing the work. They already protect children, they already raise concerns and they already carry that responsibility. What they need, though, and what our children deserve is the clarity, authority and respect that comes from being fully recognised within our child protection framework.

Today, I am calling on the Minister to bring forward legislation and to update the relevant Schedules of the Children First Act to ensure that special needs assistants are formally recognised as mandated persons. By doing so, we will strengthen child protection, close an unacceptable gap in our system and show SNAs in this country that the State values the vital role they play in keeping our children safe, supported, seen and heard.

Cuirim fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit.

The Minister thanks Senator Kennelly for raising this important issue and for offering her the opportunity to respond.

The Children First Act 2015 prescribes a range of professionals as mandated reporters who must report to Tusla child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold. This provision is supported by a range of other measures for the protection of children. Under the Children First framework, the Department of education is responsible for developing and implementing child protection procedures for schools. It is important to note that the Department of education's child protection procedures for schools, which were updated earlier this year, apply to all members of school personnel. These procedures state that if any member of school personnel, including registered teachers and special needs assistants, receives an allegation or has a suspicion that a child may have been, is being or is at risk of being abused or neglected, they should report the matter without delay to the designated liaison person, DLP, in the school. The DLP is responsible for ensuring that the reporting procedures outlined in the child protection procedures for schools are followed and is the resource person for any member of school personnel with a child protection concern.

Registered teachers, as mandated persons, are required to follow additional procedures, which are also outlined in the child protection procedures for schools document. Mandated persons, such as teachers, may make a report jointly with any other person, whether that person is a mandated person or not. For example, this could arise in situations in a school where the teacher, the SNA and the principal all have concerns about the same child and wish to make a joint report to Tusla.

Notwithstanding this, we can never assume that child responsibility is the sole responsibility of a mandated person or experts. Child protection is a multi-agency, multidisciplinary activity and Children First places strong obligations on all sectors as well as members of the public to safeguard children and report concerns to Tusla. It is important to remember that any person who has a reasonable concern about a child or young person can and should report that concern directly to the Tusla social work department in the area where the child lives.

I thank the Minister of State and welcome the statement in response from the Minister that he read out. He said the protection of our children is ultimately the priority for everyone in the school network.

We are not giving the authority to the SNAs.

There is a process in the child protection procedures for schools. People go to the DLPs, the teachers and the SNAs, but it is a matter of responsibility that when the SNAs report issues like this they are recognised as mandated persons. They are not yet at this stage. I ask the Minister of State to go back and look at this again because, as I said, they are our front-line people for these children who attend school. They may not get the same attention at home and there could be something that cannot be seen or heard by teachers or other people. Only the SNAs who deal with these children every day of the week can have this brought to their attention. I would really like to have them on that list.

I appreciate the Senator's comments and I will convey them to the Minister on his behalf. The Minister has asked me to make some closing remarks on this.

It is important to state that robust legislative policy and practice measures are in place to promote safeguarding of children in Ireland. Government Departments promote compliance with Children First within their funded bodies. Under this legislation, all bodies providing services to children are legally required to ensure that, as far as practicable, each child availing of the service from the provider is safe from harm while availing of that service. They are also obliged to carry out risk assessments, publish child safeguarding statements and set out the principles and procedures they have in place to safeguard children.

That Act operates side by side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First, the national guidance for the protection and welfare of children. The Department is in the early stages of a review of the Children First national guidelines. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the guidance incorporates, as appropriate, the range of legislative and operational developments since its publication as well as learnings from the implementation date. In addition, consideration is being given to whether the definitions and descriptions of child abuse and at-risk children in the 2017 guidance need to be updated to take a fuller account of forms of harm to children that have gained wider recognition since the publication of the guidance, including online harms, organisational and organised abuse, peer abuse, child trafficking and sexual exploitation, and exposure to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Department of Children, Disability and Equality officials continue to work closely with Department of education officials, and indeed officials from all Departments, in the context of the Children First interdepartmental implementation group to ensure our continued effective implementation of the Act and guidance. In addition, Tusla's Children First information and advice service provides ongoing support and guidance to implementing bodies.

The Reach fund was established with a clear purpose to assist ETBs and community education providers in supporting educationally disadvantaged learners, particularly those at NFQ levels 1 to 3, and to help to bridge the digital divide that many rural learners face. It was designed to tackle inequality, promote access and give everyone, regardless of their background, the chance to learn, participate and connect.

The reality on the ground, however, is that this year's drastic reduction in funding is having the opposite effect. Across north Cork, classes that have run for years - community singing, yoga, mindfulness, knitting, crochet and art - are being scrapped because they are deemed non-accredited. I take real issue with that because while these classes may not result in a QQI certification, the outcomes are extraordinary nonetheless. These courses build confidence, community spirit and mental well-being. They combat isolation, particularly among older people, carers and those who are struggling with mental health.

I will take the Millstreet FET centre in my home town of Millstreet as an example. It serves one of the smallest catchment areas in north Cork, yet in the 2024-25 term it had 189 registered learners and submitted more QQI folders than some larger centres. It has become in every sense a community hub, even if it is not officially that. In Millstreet the Singing for the Brain programme has been one of the most powerful community initiatives we have seen. The group performs at nursing homes, hospitals and local concerts. Their music lifts spirits not just for participants but for entire communities. Cork County Council even recorded a short documentary clip because of the success of its project.

Yet today these tutors, who have given so much to their communities, are having to cut their hours or eliminate them entirely because their work is being dismissed as a hobby. The new approach that prioritises QQI accreditation courses at the expense of community-based ones undermines the very ethos of lifelong learning. Not every learner wants or is ready for a certificate. Many simply need connection, purpose and belonging, and that is what the community education provides. I appreciate that the budget constraints are a reality, but we cannot measure the value of community education in accredited hours or test results. When someone who has been isolated for years finds their confidence in a singing group or when an older learner uses a tablet for the first time through a local Reach project, that is success.

I ask the Government to re-examine the criteria under the Reach funding that is allocated for 2025 and to protect the non-accredited community education programmes, especially in rural areas. Millstreet and other small towns like it cannot be expected to compete with larger urban centres under a one-size-fits-all funding model. Community education is not a luxury; it is the foundation of inclusion, resilience and well-being in rural Ireland. I hope the Minister of State can agree that programmes which bring people together, improve mental health and create community connections are worth every cent, even if they do not come with a certificate at the end.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to allow me, on behalf of the Minister, to clarify this situation concerning the Reach fund in 2025. The Reach fund is a dedicated fund to support the most disadvantaged learners to access education and training provided by ETBs and community education providers.

Investment in community education increased by 52% from 2018 to 2024, from nearly €11 million in 2018 to nearly €17 million in 2024. In recent years this investment has been bolstered by the introduction of the Reach fund. Introduced in 2020, the fund assists ETBs to increase their capacity and that of community education providers to address the decline in participation of disadvantaged learners, particularly those on literacy and basic skills programmes at NFQ levels 1 to 3. Over the years, the fund has helped to tackle inequalities and support access to vital community education. A fundamental goal of the Department, and indeed the Government, is to promote access, collaboration and innovation in community education. The fund places a strong focus on community education as a mechanism to continue to support and engage with disadvantaged learners. It is open to community and youth education groups to apply for funding through their local ETB.

Cork Education and Training Board, the Senator's local ETB, is investing over €500,000 in nearly 45,000 learners in projects right across the area, including a Ballyhoura Development CLG project titled "Empower to employ: Bridging Educational gaps for Job Readiness", which is helping Ukrainian migrants, among others, to prepare for employment.

In terms of the process, at the start of each year SOLAS sets out funding allocations for the Reach fund and guidelines for ETBs for the administration of the funding. These guidelines include details relating to governance, funding categories, how the funding process should operate and reporting requirements. For the 2025 call for the Reach fund, SOLAS issued allocations to ETBs for the fund for just over €5 million. It should be noted that this figure represents an allocation rather than guaranteed expenditure. While €5 million was available for Reach in 2025, only €4.5 million worth of projects met the eligibility criteria and are being funded. In some cases, the full allocation is not disbursed or drawn down. This can occur where applications are submitted late, required documentation is missing or proposals do not meet the programme's guidelines, or there are insufficient applications to fully utilise the funding. In September the Department announced the allocation of Reach funding of over €4.5 million in 2025 for over 700 community projects across Ireland, supporting over 100,000 learners.

The planning and delivery of services by ETBs is rightly a matter for each individual board, taking into account their allocated budgets and the specific needs of their local communities. I believe the Senator will agree that it would be neither practical nor appropriate for a Minister to become involved in the day-to-day operational decisions of these autonomous bodies.

I am not asking for the Minister to get involved in the day-to-day decisions. In my constituency, Ballyhoura Development CLG, touches only as far as Charleville. IRD Duhallow will touch the rest. What I am talking about are the small FET centres that are not getting this kind of funding and have to cut their services in rural parts, not the huge ones. They cannot compete with the huge ones such as Cork ETB in the city. Small ones like Millstreet, potentially, Macroom and others in small rural towns provide an amazing service for the people there. In rural Ireland there is a lot of isolation. They are not getting the funding they are supposed to be getting. I know this is not part of the Minister of State's brief, but his script has not answered my question. This is not what I asked. It just gives me a load of things that have been done. Again, I am talking about the small FET centres; I am not talking about huge organisations.

I thank the Senator for appreciating that this is not my specific area of responsibility. I will, of course, convey her remarks to the Minister as she has outlined them.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Ursuline College in Sligo was founded in 1850 and is celebrating its 175th anniversary, on which I congratulate the staff and all the students. I worked in the college for 17 years as a youth liaison worker and my daughter is a student there so I have a big interest in the college.

If one looks at a photograph of the school from its early days one can see a very recognisable and beautiful structure. Much construction has taken place through the years. The school has worked really hard and upgraded its facilities from the 1860s onwards, and the original school building still remains in use. I give credit to the Ursuline nuns at the time for adapting to the needs of students throughout the years by adding science labs, study labs and concert halls. The Ursuline nuns made the most of what they had because they valued education. In fact, throughout our difficult history, it was one of the schools that kept progressing which is evident by the growth in student numbers. Again, music rooms, home economic rooms and technology rooms have been added. I commend all these developments, which are really welcome and hard fought for, but they concealed the obvious fact that a new school building was needed. In 2014, a comment was made, not by the school principal or the board of management, but by Tony Sheppard, who was the technical manager in the planning and building unit of the Department of education, that recommended the building of a new school to encompass the protected structures of the original school and the other buildings. An application was submitted which reached stage 2 and a detailed design was submitted in May 2024. I note an answer that the then Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, gave to the Dáil in response to other representatives who raised this issue in September 2024, which said that this stage should have taken approximately 12 months. The initial part of stage 3, pre-qualification of the contract, was completed in February of this year and a list of contractors has been drawn up. An updated cost plan for the project was submitted by the design team in May 2025 following consultations and various representations from the building unit. So now the school currently awaits permission from the Department of education to issue tenders to the pre-qualified list. Again, the then Minister, Deputy Foley, stated that Stage 3 should take approximately 12 months.

The urgency is felt by the entire school because the school is not fit for purpose. The completion of this project is a matter of urgency because the current planning permission is due to expire in May 2027. If construction has not reached an appropriate stage within the next 16 months, which in the grand scheme of things is not that far away, the development will have to go back to planning, thus creating additional delays and increasing costs. Significant costs have already been incurred throughout the planning process.

I ask the Minister of State to confirm the current status of this project, to state when the school community can expect stage 3 to be completed and to set out when can they expect it to move to stage 4, which is the construction phase.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the major school building project for Ursuline College, Sligo. The project has been devolved to the school board of management for delivery, with the assistance of the joint managerial body. The brief for the project is to provide an extension and refurbishment which will deliver a 750-pupil post-primary school building.

The board of management has appointed a design team to design the accommodation being provided through the various stages of architectural planning. Projects progress from stage to stage in accordance with the project brief and the Department's design guidelines. The project for Ursuline College is currently at stage 2b, post-planning process of the architectural process, which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and preparing tender documents. At this juncture in the project, it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery. The Department will continue to engage directly with the school authority to provide assistance in regard to the project as required.

Since 2020, the Department has invested over €6 billion in schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and the optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Eighty percent of new classes in 2025-26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-30 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. On project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance, and to provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the 2026-30 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

I thank the Minister of State for the response but it is very disappointing. I note the line "it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery." I appreciate that there are lots of capital projects happening. I hope that the Minister of State can relay to the Department that there is an urgency due to the real fear of the lapse in planning permission. Over the 11 years since the new school project was recommended, €500,000 has been spent on the repair and maintenance of the old buildings. Also, these old buildings deteriorate every day. Not only that, but €2.3 million has been spent by the Department since January 2019 on fees and surveys for this project. I hope that the Department will progress this project as a matter of urgency. The risk that planning permission will lapse gives this a real urgency. The school is waiting and is stuck between two phases. I hope the Minister of State will relay these concerns to the Department. Additional provision was mentioned. The Ursuline College has adapted to the needs of students. By working within their old buildings, they have created two wonderful time-out runs for young people with additional needs. The school has met all the criteria but is stuck in limbo and I hope that the Minister of State will relay this back.

I will of course relay the Senator's comments to the Minister. I went to a community school in its first year of being a community school, having previously been an Ursuline convent, so I have the benefit of having been educated by four wonderful Ursuline nuns, as part of a greater teaching team, during my time in school. I know that their contribution to education is absolutely outstanding. I will convey these concerns to the Department, on behalf of the Senator.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. Once again, I want to raise the issue of the forgotten farmers scheme, which closed for applications on 13 August. The scheme was intended to right a long-standing wrong by finally recognising a cohort of farmers who missed out on key supports during a gap between CAP reforms. This scheme was years in the making yet the Department opened applications for only a fortnight in August when many farmers were at their busiest. I have been contacted by constituents who simply did not realise the scheme was open, only to discover that they had missed the deadline.

In 2015, the Department of agriculture identified around 4,000 farmers in this group. By 2023, that number had been revised down to 3,500. When the scheme closed, only 1,254 applications had been received, which means that fewer than half of those identified as eligible got the opportunity to apply. Such a situation cannot be explained away as a lack of interest. It speaks to poor communication, a rushed timeline and a scheme that was, in my opinion, designed to minimise uptake. The truth is that a two-week window in August was never going to work for farmers. At that time, farmers were under pressure, contractors were busy and advisers were on holiday. Many farmers did not even hear about the scheme until it had closed. For a group that had spent years awaiting recognition this was a cruel, short opportunity and now they are being told that it is too late.

I have made representations to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the response has been an emphatic "No". There is also the question of how a sum of €5 million could be divided among 3,000 eligible farmers because it only amounts to €1,660, which does not deliver the promised €5,000 each. It is no wonder then the Department seems to have quietly accepted a much smaller pool of applicants. I wrote to the Minister before the scheme opened and again after it closed to highlight these exact concerns; specifically that the timeframe was too short and the communication from the Department was not adequate. The feedback I have received from farmers across the country is one of deep frustration and a sense that the forgotten farmers have again been swindled out of their entitlements. They feel that the door was closed before they even got a chance to walk through it.

These are the same forgotten farmers who we have talked about for years. I ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to open the scheme or, at the very least, put in place a follow-up measure to ensure that every farmer who meets the criteria gets the payment to which they are entitled.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter. As she is aware, there is a commitment in the Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future to "Deliver a scheme that recognises the category of farmers known as the 'Forgotten Farmers'." Since the time the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was first approached in 2015 with regard to the group commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, the group was defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had established their holdings prior to 2008, held no or low-value payment entitlements and were ineligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015. The request for support for the forgotten farmer group in 2015 was for inclusion under the basic payment scheme national reserve as a group suffering from specific disadvantage. This definition of forgotten farmer has remained consistent since 2015.

Budget 2025 provided an allocation of €5 million to deliver on the programme for Government commitment and in 2025 the Department developed the scheme to support the long-established young farmers to address the commitment in the programme for Government. The scheme was implemented in two phases. Phase 1 saw the opening of an online survey on 7 May 2025 in preparation for a scheme to support long-established young farmers. This survey remained open for submissions for over three weeks until Friday, 30 May 2025 to assist in determining the number of farmers who met the long-standing criteria for forgotten farmers. The survey required participants to indicate they met the qualifying criteria for the proposed scheme. The launch of this survey was widely reported in the farming media, both online and in hard copy. Phase 2 saw the opening of online applications under the scheme to support long-established young farmers on 22 July 2025. The online application system remained open for over three weeks and closed on 13 August 2025. This online application required applicants to confirm they met the eligibility criteria under the scheme and to also upload documentation in support of their date of birth and agricultural educational qualifications.

As was the case with the online survey launched as the first phase of this scheme, the launch of the online application system was widely reported in the farming media, both online and in hard copy. In addition, in advance of the closing date the Department issued text message reminders to potential applicants whose applications were still in draft in order to ensure these applications could be submitted. When online applications closed under the scheme there were 1,254 applications submitted. These applications are currently being assessed against the scheme's terms and conditions to determine eligibility. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application when this process has been completed in due course. It is expected payments will be made to successful applicants in early December 2025. The application window for the scheme to support long-established young farmers closed on 13 August and there are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria or to provide for another scheme in future years.

As has been mentioned previously, both the online survey launched as the first phase of the scheme in May and the online application system launched as the second phase in July were widely publicised in the farming media to raise the awareness of prospective applicants to the availability of the support scheme. The window to submit applications closed at 5.30 p.m. on 13 August 2025 and, as per the terms and conditions of the scheme, late applications are deemed inadmissible and there are no plans to extend the deadline.

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply but it simply is not good enough for the farmers who have once again found themselves excluded. It is a double rejection. The Minister of State has confirmed 1,254 applications were received and I acknowledge that is a start but we both know the estimated number of those eligible was about 3,000. That leaves close to 1,700 farmers with no recourse. If the Government is serious about fairness and paying what is genuinely owed, there must be a second chance, whether through a short opening of the application portal or through a supplementary scheme. These farmers must be accommodated, otherwise we are sending a clear message that the forgotten farmers are again being forgotten. I ask that a full breakdown of the applications be published showing people who took an interest in the earlier scheme in May and the difference between that number and how many applications were received in August. More importantly, I ask the Minister to commit to exploring a mechanism to ensure these eligible farmers are not left behind.

I will again, obviously, convey the Senator's views to the Minister on whose behalf I am replying. In the closing statement the Minister emphasises the process is under way at the moment and assessment and processing is under way. The Department, therefore, has no plans to extend the deadline.

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. Ireland's whole-of-government circular economy strategy commits us to reducing waste, extending product lifespan and embedding reuse and recycling in every aspect of how we consume and do business. These are ambitious though necessary goals, but in reality our current system is being undermined by global e-commerce. Irish consumers now make more online purchases than almost any other nation in Europe, yet too many of those goods come in from distance sellers who fail to meet Irish recycling and take-back obligations. Compliant Irish retailers are left carrying the cost by paying for recycling and recovery schemes that overseas competitors are simply avoiding. This creates two major problems. The first is a deep competitive imbalance, as domestic retailers, especially small and medium enterprises, are shouldering the financial and administrative burden of compliance while global sellers escape equivalent obligations. The second problem is the risk to Ireland’s environmental targets. Our national recycling rate has stagnated at 41% for the past decade. This is well short of the EU’s 55% target for 2025. Without decisive action we risk missing those binding targets and exposing the State to significant EU penalties, while damaging consumer confidence in our recycling system.

There is strong public support for closing this compliance gap. A new nationally representative survey of 1,000 consumers commissioned by Digital Business Ireland and conducted by Amárach shows six in ten shoppers say they would be less likely to buy from an online retailer that does not contribute to Ireland’s environmental and circular economy targets. Some 80% of consumers expressed at least one concern regarding distance sellers. Cross-border e-commerce is widespread. Some 55% of consumers made at least one online purchase in the past month that required shipping from outside the State. These findings reinforce what Irish businesses have been saying, which is that the public want a level playing field where everyone who profits from the Irish market contributes fairly to its sustainability and where responsible Irish retailers are not subsidising free riders.

There is a straightforward, proven and fair solution, namely, the pay-on-behalf-of model. This approach, already implemented in France, Germany, Italy and Spain ensures online marketplaces take responsibility for registering, reporting and paying environmental compliance fees on behalf of distance sellers who fail to do so. In practice, this means any seller unable to provide an Irish registration number is automatically enrolled in the marketplace pay-on-behalf-of scheme. The marketplace then reports and pays the relevant compliance fees to Irish authorities. This model delivers fairness, simplicity, competitiveness and environmental progress. France’s experience shows such systems can be implemented smoothly. Amazon, for example, already integrates pay-on-behalf-of compliance services into its platform, which proves it is both practical and scalable. Is the Department actively assessing the feasibility of introducing a pay-on-behalf-of model or similar solution in Ireland and, if so, what timeframe is envisaged for the consultation on, design of and roll-out of such a system?

I thank the Senator. I am obviously taking this opportunity to reply on behalf of the Minister. Over the past two decades Ireland has made significant progress in moving away from disposal as our primary treatment option for waste. Ireland’s national waste action plan for a circular economy provides a roadmap to transition to a circular economy in the decade ahead. One of the key objectives in this action plan includes making producers environmentally accountable for the products they place on the market. Ireland uses the extended producer responsibility, EPR, model to deal with waste streams from electronic and electrical equipment and batteries. This model is based on the producer pays principle. In a circular economy, producers must be held to account for the sustainability of the products they place on the market and EPR schemes are an effective method to achieve this. The Irish compliance schemes for WEEE and batteries are WEEE Ireland and ERP Ireland. The schemes are funded by a combination of producer fees and visible environmental management costs charged on certain items of electrical and electronic equipment.

Producer responsibility legislation is designed to ensure producers of relevant goods contribute to the cost of collecting and recycling these goods when they are no longer in use. Ensuring all obligated producers pay their share is critical to the credibility and success of EPR schemes.

Online retailers or distance sellers, by virtue of their number and location, present a particular challenge for EPR scheme compliance in Ireland and across the EU. This is a critical issue for EPR. Free-riding distance sellers enjoy a cost advantage over their counterparts who pay their EPR fees. Ensuring a level playing field across different business models is vital for fairness for EU producers. The Department is working with stakeholders and regulators to tackle this issue both systemically and at the level of individual operators.

In Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency and local authorities have enforcement roles under the relevant legislation. Those bodies work together and with EPR organisations to ensure compliance in the Irish market and to contribute to the achievement of EU recycling targets. The EPA is responsible for enforcing certain obligations on both distance sellers and distributors under WEEE and batteries regulations and may take a prosecution for a summary offence for failure to comply with regulations.

Other approaches, such as a pay-on-behalf model led by a host online platform, also offer opportunities to promote compliance. This is where an online platform, as the Senator indicated, would provide simplified compliance on behalf of their sellers, who may be small producers and perceive the risk of non-compliance as outweighing the benefits of joining a producer responsibility scheme. Producers would collectively delegate EPR registration, reporting and payment obligations to a nominated authorised representative via their online marketplace platform, and would pay their compliance fees to the platform.

Furthermore, the European Commission is preparing a legislative proposal for a circular economy Act to be published next year. This represents an opportunity for the EU to strengthen enforcement around this issue and the Department will actively support measures proposed to promote fair competition in the EU market.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. As he said during his contribution, it is important he recognises there is unfairness within the marketplace at the moment. Is it is possible to get further detail from the Minister's office on the legislative proposal that will be published next year? It is important we work with our EU market. This is essentially about fairness. We are talking about small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland that have a competitive disadvantage in relation to other businesses across the world. Obviously, we are heading into the Christmas period. More people spend money during this time of year, whether it is online for Irish companies or abroad. That disadvantage is increasing year on year.

While it is welcome that something will be published next year and we will work with the EU, it is vital for businesses across our country, particularly small businesses, that fairness is put in place as quickly as possible. I ask the Minister of State and the Department to prioritise this. We had a budget a number of weeks ago that was, essentially, focused on retaining and supporting local businesses. This is another element where we can play our part to support them.

I will absolutely raise this matter with the Minister on the Senator's behalf. I know he has raised it directly with the Minister. The point he made is very valid. This is an unfairness to our local, small, indigenous businesses trying to survive and operate in a market where they are compliant and others have an advantage. It is important that it is looked at as a priority, as the Senator said. I will raise those concerns directly with the Minister.

Táimid ag fanacht leis an Seanadóir O'Loughlin; níl sí anseo fós. Sin deireadh an chláir.