101. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to give consideration to introducing a pay-on-behalf model for online marketplaces to ensure that all distance sellers contribute fairly to recycling and producer-responsibility obligations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69496/25]

102. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if his Department has assessed the financial impact on Irish retailers of absorbing recycling and take-back costs arising from non-compliant distance sellers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69497/25]

103. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will acknowledge that some distance sellers continue to evade environmental and recycling responsibilities when selling into Ireland; and if he will outline what measures he intends to introduce to address this ongoing non-compliance. [69498/25]

104. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the level of engagement his Department has had with major online marketplaces regarding their role in ensuring seller registration, reporting, and environmental compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69499/25]

105. Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he intends to strengthen the oversight and reporting requirements applied to online marketplaces in order to improve transparency and ensure full compliance with recycling and environmental obligations. [69500/25]

119. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will address the existing imbalance where domestic Irish retailers continue to shoulder the majority of take-back and recycling obligations while distance sellers frequently avoid these responsibilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69606/25]

120. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps his Department is taking to close compliance gaps created by international distance sellers, given Ireland's municipal waste recycling rate has remained unchanged at 41% for ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69607/25]

121. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the way in which he plans to ensure effective producer-responsibility compliance for online sellers based outside the EU, given that almost 40% of online purchases in Ireland originate from non-EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69608/25]

122. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will report on the effectiveness of current enforcement mechanisms, including those under the EU Digital Services Act, in addressing non-compliance by global online marketplaces with recycling and take-back obligations. [69609/25]

123. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he plans to introduce national measures prior to EU reforms in 2028 to protect compliant Irish retailers from the impact of free-riding distance sellers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69610/25]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 119, 120, 121, 122 and 123 together.

Producer responsibility legislation is designed to ensure that producers of relevant goods contribute to the costs of collecting and recycling these goods when they are no longer in use. Ensuring all obligated producers pay their share is critical to the credibility and success of these schemes, known as Extended Producer Responsibility schemes (EPRs). In Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local authorities both have enforcement roles under the legislation. Those bodies work together and with the EPR organisations to ensure compliance in the Irish market and to contribute to achievement of EU recycling targets.

The EPA is responsible for enforcing certain obligations on both distance sellers and distributors under the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations and Batteries Regulations, and may take a prosecution for a summary offence for failure to comply with the regulations.

Further information on the obligations of distance sellers is available here: https://www.epa.ie/publications/compliance--enforcement/waste/Guidance-for-distance-sellers-of-EEE-and-Batteries.pdf.

Compliance of distance sellers is a critical issue for EPR in Ireland and across the EU. Free-riding distance sellers enjoy a cost advantage over their counterparts who have paid their EPR fees. The Department is working with stakeholders and regulators to tackle this issue both systemically and at the level of individual operators.

Recent circular economy legislation for batteries and packaging waste refers Member States to provisions available under the EU Digital Services Act. The Department and stakeholders are currently examining how the measures under that Act can be leveraged to level the playing field in the market. Other approaches such as a 'Pay on Behalf' model led by a host online platform, also offers opportunities to promote compliance and forms part of the suite of measures being actively explored by the Department currently.

A draft National Policy Statement and Roadmap for Circular Textiles was published for public consultation in May 2025. It sets out for the first time a policy direction for Ireland with regard to tackling fast fashion and promoting reuse and recycling of used textiles. The consultation is now closed and it is planned to publish final Statement and Roadmap in early 2026.

Directive (EU) 2025/1892 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste entered into force on 16 October 2025. The Directive contains wide ranging measures aimed to tackle fast fashion and the environmental degradation caused by textile waste. It contains measures to support the separate collection of textiles and apply the “polluter pays principle” which will make the fashion industry responsible for its textile waste.

This Directive provides for mandatory and harmonised EU wide Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles to support efficient textile collection, sorting, reuse and recycling while incentivising eco-design of textile products. The Department has started work on the transposition of this Directive. Ireland is required to transpose the revised Directive into national law by June 2027. Ireland will be required to have an EPR scheme for textiles established by April 2028.

The Department has started the foundational work with the sector for an Irish EPR scheme with a dedicated webinar and workshop taking place in 2024. Building on this we are developing an EPR Delivery Plan with the intention of publishing it for stakeholder consultation in early 2026.

In August of this year, the European Commission issued a Call for Evidence in preparation for publishing a proposed Circular Economy Act next year. Ireland has made clear to the Commission that we would welcome measures for EPRs in that legislation that ensure fair competition in the EU market.