I move amendment No. 22: In page 15, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(j) to assist the establishment, equipping and, where appropriate, the operation of facilities which provide repair services;”.

I move amendment No. 23: In page 15, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(j) to develop public industrial washing facilities which support the use of reusable food and drink containers by local businesses and public services;”.

I move amendment No. 24: In page 15, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(m) to assist, support or promote initiatives to restore, conserve and renovate buildings in order to reduce embodied emissions resulting from demolition;”.

I move amendment No. 25: In page 15, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “(o) to assist, support or promote the work of civil society groups or indigenous peoples to support climate justice and protect the environment and human rights by limiting or regulating the extraction or exploitation of natural resources which may be exported into Ireland;”.

I move amendment No. 26: In page 15, lines 37 and 38, to delete “ paragraphs (a) to (o) of that subsection ” and substitute“ subsection (9) ”.

I move amendment No. 27: In page 16, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “(15) Where a member of a committee established under subsection (14) has a material interest in a matter under consideration by the committee, they must declare that interest and subsequently recuse themselves from such deliberations.”.

I move amendment No. 28: In page 17, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “(ii) reflect the principles of just transition and climate justice,”.

I move amendment No. 30: In page 17, line 32, to delete “6 years” and substitute “3 years”.

I move amendment No. 31: In page 18, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(ii) the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action,”.

I move amendment No. 37: In page 19, line 7, after “concerned” to insert the following: “and shall also have regard as to whether the item is constructed of virgin plastic or recycled plastic”.

I move amendment No. 43: In page 19, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “(4) The Minister may make regulations to exclude an environmental levy charge on customers for certain single-use items where those items are required by that person due to disability.”.

I move amendment No. 53: In page 23, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “(e) electronic devices constructed with absolute obsolescence built in;”.

Amendment No. 53 seeks to add a new item to the list of items the supply of which the Minister may, by regulation, prohibit within the State. It gives the Minister the power to ban the supply of electronic items that have absolute obsolescence built in. Amendment No. 54 seeks to give the Minister the power to ban the supply of electronic items that have relative obsolescence built in. By way of context, obsolescence is a question of how and when products meet the end of their useful lifetime and are replaced with n…

I agree it is not adequate or sufficient to say let us talk about the EU legislation and EU levels. If we are passionate about these things, then we want to do everything we can do. There is nothing to stop us being a very active agent in EU negotiations if we also have national legislation. In fact, it makes us a more credible actor within those EU negotiations.

Amendment No. 64 mirrors provisions that have already been put in place by France. That gives France credibility with regard to the EU discussions. If we really want to act, we must use every moment, space, power and opportunity we have to do a good thing and take real action. We should take that opportunity. We should not say we will roll the dice on the EU. I hope the EU comes through with great decisions but sometimes it does not. Look at the taxonomy decision. That is a godawful decision in which gas and nuclea…

My provisions earlier were too wide. I was told these were too general. I accept they were very general because I was trying to give power to the Minister and not to have prescriptive powers. These are very specific, however. They address all those issues of legal concerns in that it is specific policies. It mirrors legislation that is legal and that is already in place in France. It sets out clear fines. Unless we address those issues and create regulations and, indeed, financial disincentives to the shameful disp…

Amendment No. 64 should be supported. I am not going to elaborate further on my own amendments in terms of in-built obsolescence. These are also areas in which Italy and France have taken the lead and where measures have been put in place. What I would expect in a circular economy Bill is that we would be having detailed proposals on how the Government has decided to follow the French or Italian models. We looked at these models when this was at pre-legislative scrutiny stage. I have not prescriptively said how the…

I move amendment No. 54: In page 23, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “(e) electronic devices constructed with relative obsolescence built in;”.

I move amendment No. 55: In page 23, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “(e) products which require precious metals or rare earth minerals to complete;”.

I move amendment No. 57: In page 23, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “(3) In making regulations under this section, the Minister shall have regard to the methods of disposal of single-use items outside the State and the effects upon local communities where waste arising from the disposal of such items is processed or delivered to.”.