Gardiner says Plastic Bag Tax in Republic is Failing
Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, said today that there was evidence that the plastic bag tax in the Irish Republic was failing and that the use of plastic bags in the South was on the increase again.
“I understand that the Irish Government plans to increase the tax on plastic bags by 25% or even double it from 15 % to 30% to stem the rising use of plastic bags in the South. Evidence suggests that shoppers in the Republic are buying over 130 million plastic bags each year.”
“It seems that the deterrent effect of the 15% tax has weakened over the past four years of its operation. In 2002, shoppers spent only €7m on plastic bags in supermarkets and other stores. But sales rose to €12.6m in 2003, €13.5m in 2004 and €17.5m last year. Clearly the tax is not working.”
“It seems that fast food outlets are the worst offenders and many may be breaching the regulations over the use of free plastic bags. Larger plastic carrier bags, used by some independent fast-food outlets, do not qualify for the exemption.”
“There are important lessons in all of this for us in Northern Ireland and the UK. If we were to take action against the use of plastic bags and promote instead the use of re-usable bags, then clearly we will have to look carefully at the level of any tax rate we might levy on plastic bags. We must do something about plastic bags because disposing of them is costing ratepayers a lot of money.”
“In the light of this evidence from the Republic, there has to be a concern that the plastic bag is intrinsic to supermarket shopping and, if that is the case, then we are going to have to look at planning applications for supermarkets and perhaps be encouraging the development of more and more local markets and farmers’ markets which are becoming more and more popular anyway.”