Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 May 2023
81. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the preparations that have been undertaken in his Department to develop a circular economy strategy in key economic sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21544/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland has not been good at either constructing buildings or enterprises that put sustainability at their core. We have 50% higher emissions and a low uptake of renewables outside of electricity, poor material and waste management systems and the lowest rate of circularity, bar Romania, in Europe. Does the Minister agree he has a central role in addressing this?
We touched on this yesterday in committee and, to be fair to Deputy Bruton, he has been a remarkably consistent voice in this area for a long time, including when he served as a Minister. He put in place Ireland's first proper structures for responding to the climate challenge. To be fair, we are moving from being in a poor position in this area relative to other European countries to a much better place. However, we have a distance to travel yet in terms of how we manage, reduce and recycle waste, how we produce energy and how we use natural resources to do that in a clean way, and in our overall approach towards the circular economy. This is more than just a climate strategy; it is a public health strategy as well. We are pursuing much more sustainable approaches now that will enable us to improve our performance and meet the targets that we have set for ourselves, thus placing Ireland in a much better position vis-à-vis other European countries in the context of the circular economy.
While we have now decided that is where we want to go, we are certainly not very advanced on the path. We passed legislation providing that every sector should have a strategy for circularity but I do not see sectoral strategies being evolved. The Dutch, who are the leaders in this field, have such strategies. We need to offer enterprise and consumers much more information on the sustainability of their choices. I ask the Minister to consider bringing forward strategies in building, food, manufacturing, and the many other sectors for which he has responsibility.
The second iteration of the whole-of-government circular economy strategy is currently under development in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. As the Deputy would expect, that needs to be a cross-governmental response. My Department is very much part of that discussion with the lead Department in the context of industry and economic development. I accept the criticism on where Ireland has been in this area. However, I do not accept that we are not putting in place a pathway to a much more impactful response to the circular economy challenge that we have across multiple areas, from energy generation to energy management to transportation, to waste management and waste to energy. In all of these areas, the principles around the benefits of a circular economy are now being actioned in Government policy. We have a distance to travel yet; that is true.
