Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Patrick O'Donovan (FG), Limerick County

The Deputy is right that in a previous life I was a chemist. Lithium does not fall from the sky. It is dug out of a huge hole in the ground and anybody who says there are no environmental consequences from an electric car is not telling the truth. In some far flung place in the world somebody is driving a gigantic Volvo BM, spewing thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to try to get a bit of lithium out of the ground. It is not an inconsequential extraction. The Deputy is right that there have been issues with regard to their safety, particularly in phones and poorly-built toys from countries outside the EU that might not have the same regulations as us, particularly a CE mark. I will ask the Minister with responsibility to respond to the Deputy directly. He raises a very valid point but it may be something that is more pertinent for the European Council than this House.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11