14. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her proposals to provide additional respite capacity for adults and children with disabilities in County Monaghan. [72976/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

The Minister of State may be aware that until last year, Monaghan had no respite facilities for children at all. The services it has currently are incredibly stretched. I ask the Minister of State to outline the proposals to provide additional respite capacity for both adults and children with disabilities in County Monaghan.

Sentiment score: -0.10

I welcome that progress is being made on a permanent respite centre for children in Monaghan. However, I am deeply concerned by what the Minister of State referenced in relation to Rainbow Lodge, which is an interim measure. The Minister of State indicated that its future is contingent on funding. It would be completely unacceptable if Rainbow Lodge were closed before the permanent centre opened. I appeal to the Minister of State to take a hands-on approach to this. Even the new centre with five bedrooms is going to be at or above capacity on day one. I suggest it would make eminent sense for the HSE and the Department to ensure that Rainbow Lodge is maintained as a respite centre, even beyond the construction and completion of the new centre. There is huge demand for respite services. Rainbow Lodge is operating well. It is incredibly popular with users and a huge relief to the families who have benefited from it. It would make sense to maintain both respite centres into the future.

Sentiment score: 0.17

The Minister of State said Rainbow Lodge is contingent on funding. She is the one who provides the funding. Has she allocated sufficient funding for Rainbow Lodge to operate throughout 2026? Second, Annalee View is a respite centre that operates one week for adults and one week for children. The truth of the matter is that there is a deficiency in respite places. As the Minister of State outlined, it can be a lengthy process to provide new respite services. If we have a respite centre that is up and running, and operating well, which the users love and the families think is a great service, it would be illogical to close it down. I contend that if it is closed down, at some point in the future, another Minister will have to start the process all over again. Will the Minister of State confirm that the funding is in place for 2026? Will she confirm that she will actively pursue keeping Rainbow Lodge open, even post the second and permanent respite centre being in place?

Sentiment score: 0.16

106. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the number of rPET pellets produced in the State; the amount of this product utilised within the State and the amount exported. [72997/25]

Sentiment score: 0.11

I have raised on a number of occasions issues relating to rPET plastic recycling in this State. With the introduction of the return scheme, which imposes a deposit charge on consumers every time they buy a plastic bottle that they then need to recoup, we need to ensure there is full transparency when it comes to all plastic that is collected under the scheme. Will the Minister of State detail the statistics relating to the number of rPET pellets that are recycled and produced in this State?

Sentiment score: 0.15

The deposit return scheme means that ordinary people are charged an additional cost every time they buy a plastic bottle and then they have to go to what is often a huge inconvenience of gathering the bottles to retrieve their deposit. There have been a lot of unforeseen consequences. For example, people's household waste charges have increased because domestic collectors are not, as was previously the case, receiving plastic bottles when collecting waste. With schemes such as this, we need to be careful that consumers and the general population do not see this as a burden rather than a mechanism to increase recycling and improve the circular economy. This is not helped by the fact that almost 70% of the plastic that is collected is exported to third countries, despite the fact that we have companies in Ireland, such as Shabra Plastics and Packaging Limited in my constituency, that have the capacity to recycle this product. Will the Minister of State take a hands-on approach to ensure that we increase significantly and substantially the amount of plastic that is recycled in this State under this scheme?

Sentiment score: -0.02

The lack of information and movement coming from the Department in this respect are completely unacceptable. The Government was quick to impose this charge on consumers but it has refused point blank to impose a charge on the use of virgin plastic, for example, something that would put a burden on the companies that are using virgin plastic, which is non-recyclable plastic. There are companies in this country that have the ability to recycle this product but Re-Turn sells the plastic to the highest bidder, regardless of the purpose or country. It means that people who are thinking they are doing the right thing recycling their plastic bottles can see their product going half way across the world in a way that no one could describe as being environmentally responsible. I will ask the question again. Will the Minister of State take a hands-on approach? Rather than just taking the word of Re-Turn or Repak, will he ensure his Department is fully across every single detail and is not allowing something that is penalising Irish consumers or potentially putting Irish companies at risk by the actions that Re-Turn might be taking?

Sentiment score: -0.11

The Government also needs to protect those Irish companies that are already recycling.

Sentiment score: 0.38