Maybe ‘new politics’ is able to deliver reform after all

On Tuesday evening, Dáil Éireann will debate the Waste Reduction Bill. It was drafted by the Green Party, and is being co-sponsored and introduced by the Labour Party - the first time that a Bill drafted by one party has been advanced by another since the term ‘new politics’ entered our lexicon.

It is not a world-altering piece of legislation, but it contains sensible proposals. From 2019, it will require the introduction of a deposit scheme for plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminium cans. It also calls for an end to the use of non-compostable, non-recyclable single use plastics, such as disposable coffee cups, by 2020. We need to cut down on our waste costs and work towards protecting our environment, and this Bill is a step in the right direction. We hope that all parties will get behind this legislation, and we are open to taking amendments that improve the Bill - whether they come from the Government or opposition.

But more than that, we hope that the debate tonight can succeed in sending a broader signal - that a genuinely new and better politics is possible. There are issues we face in this country that should be bigger than any one party. And when one party has a sensible suggestion for how those issues might be tackled, it should be supported by others. We’ll find out tonight whether others agree with that.

The instinct from Government will be to protect the status quo. Industry groups such as IBEC and Repak will be backing that approach with claims that everything is working just fine and trying to do more will not work. The problem with their argument is that people can see in their own everyday lives that things are not right. We are laden down with non-recyclable packaging every time we return from the shops and now we are all going to have to pay for that waste.

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We are also tired of drinking everything from a disposable cup or plastic bottle. Half of those plastic containers only spend a few minutes on our lips and then several hundred years degrading in the natural environment. The Government will say that forcing industry to cut out this plastic waste is going to cost us more but what is the price for the litter and long term pollution this throwaway culture creates?

In the history of the Irish state, there has never been so little legislative progress as there has been in the period since the last election. Since the election of this Government in May 2016, we have seen little progress in a whole range of areas. When it comes to looking after our environment there has been real disappointment.

The Climate Change legislation enacted in 2015 requires the publication of a National Mitigation Plan that will outline how we make a just transition to a low carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy. As required by law, Denis Naughten produced a draft plan in March. But it was criticised by many commentators for including no meaningful action that would make sure that Ireland meets the targets that we set for ourselves.

This Waste Reduction Bill can help deliver some of the climate solutions we need. Every kilo of plastic we avoid using saves six kilos of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere. Switching to a more efficient ‘circular economy’ can also offer the prospect of providing more local jobs that are here to stay. It is an economic model which recognises we have to stand up for the interests of the consumer and not just the big industry players.

The high-level planning for greening our country and protecting our environment needs to change and this is not the first time that Labour and the Green Party have been working together to try and improve things. In November, Senator Grace O’Sullivan introduced a bill in the Seanad to ban microbeads - useless pieces of tiny plastic that cause enormous environmental destruction. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil promised to bring forward their own bills, but six months later nothing had happened. So, on behalf of the Labour Party, Seán Sherlock tabled a similar Bill in the Dáil in April, and this time it passed second stage. We’re still not there yet, but by working together, we have forced the Government to move in the right direction.

We hope to get support from other parties in the house tonight and to advance the bill in collaboration with all other parties and groups. If we can get this Bill passed, it might send out a small but significant signal that a new and better politics is developing - one that can take on some of the really big challenges we face.

Brendan Howlin is the Leader of the Labour Party. Eamon Ryan is the Leader of the Green Party.