Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Feb 2019

Vol. 979 No. 7

Prohibition of Micro-Plastics Bill 2016: Leave to Withdraw [Private Members]

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I move:

That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, leave be given to withdraw the Prohibition of Micro-Plastics Bill 2016.

I seek leave to withdraw my Prohibition of Micro-Plastics Bill 2016 on the basis that I gave a commitment that, if the Government published legislation or moved on the area of banning microplastics and microbeads, I would yield to it.

We have, to be fair to the Government, a general scheme of the Prohibition of Certain Products Containing Plastic Microbeads Bill 2018. I am quite happy to withdraw my Bill. I do so in good faith on the basis that in 2016 the Tánaiste gave a commitment that this would be legislated for. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has published the general scheme of the Bill and I trust that the Government will now proceed in a timely fashion with the publication of the legislation and see it through to its logical conclusion and ban microplastics and microbeads from this jurisdiction for now and for all time.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Tánaiste may speak briefly but I cannot allow a debate.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Simon Coveney)

I thank the Deputy for this because he was one of the people who really got the microbeads issue onto the agenda, along with Senator Grace O'Sullivan. I said to him at the time when I was in a different Department that we were going to legislate for this but that we had to go through some EU procedures before we could do it. It was agreed on that the Government would try to make this happen as quickly as we could. That is now proceeding and I assure the Deputy we want to get this done before the end of the year if we can.

Question put and agreed to.