Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The programme for Government, published in January 2025, contains a commitment to provide investment in sorting technology in Ireland's material recovery facility, MRF, network. This is a really positive commitment in the programme for Government, but in the time since the programme's publication, no progress has been made. I hope the Minister of State can update the House on progress on this commitment. The recently published Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy 2026-2028 is another really positive step in circular economy policy. However, in regard to sorting technology, the strategy contains an action to enhance the regulatory conditions required to promote further investment in packaging waste sorting systems. This does not accurately reflect the programme for Government commitment and it is unclear what the action means in practice.

A revised waste action plan for the circular economy is set to be published later this year. It is vital that this contains an action akin to that of the programme for Government and sets out a practical pathway as to how the Government envisages that this action will be achieved.

The need for sorting technology is especially pertinent in light of the upcoming packaging and packaging waste regulation, PPWR, obligations facing Ireland. The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that without a significant increase in recycling, Ireland will not meet legally binding targets under the PPWR. Sorting technology is a cost-efficient and straightforward solution that could increase recycling rates for multiple packaging materials. I would appreciate an update on the progress made to date on the programme for Government commitment to provide investment in sorting technology in the MRF network.

The waste action plan for the circular economy is in the Minister of State's remit. What is the timeline for this plan's publication? It is important to note that an investment of only €3.5 million could fund the sorting systems across the MRF network. Automated sorting technologies have the capacity to identify, pick and sort cartons in Irish MRFs into their own dedicated streams without making huge changes to the configuration of the MRF. This demonstrates the potential to increase recycling at scale if the technology was rolled out across Ireland's wider MRF network.

While the deposit return scheme has been really successful for PET bottles and aluminium cans since its inception in 2024, MRFs have lost access to a significant stream of materials for recycling and need to look elsewhere to bridge this gap. Investment in automatic sorting technology in key MRFs could rapidly scale up Ireland's ability to segregate packaging materials and significantly improve recycling processes and rates in years to come. I look forward to the Minister of State's response on this issue.

I thank Senator Noonan for raising this issue because it goes to the heart of how we are moving from simply managing waste to genuinely valuing materials.

I will start with an important point for the House, which is that waste collection and waste treatment in Ireland are almost entirely operated by private companies under permits and licences issued by local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. This includes our material recovery facilities, MRFs. When we talk about additional investment in advanced sorting technology, the primary responsibility lies with the waste industry itself. However, I acknowledge that the industry is already progressing a number of investment proposals, some of them in partnership with the extended producer responsibility schemes. Indeed, I had the opportunity when I took up the role of Minister of State for the circular economy to visit many of these processing plants, such as Panda and Thorntons, which take in a huge amount of municipal waste and are investing heavily in their systems.

The role of my Department is different but crucial. Under the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, WAPCE, our job is to set the policy direction while strengthening regulation and ensuring the right conditions are in place so that the recyclable materials are captured here in Ireland and not lost to incineration or export. This work is under way and the national waste management plan, NWMP, which was published in 2024 by the regional waste management planning offices, set out specific actions to address gaps in domestic waste treatment infrastructure, including improved sorting and recovery capacity.

In parallel, the extended producer responsibility schemes operated under the polluter pays principle have a key role in funding and supporting investment that improves recycling outcomes. The update on the action plan for the circular economy will commence in 2026. This will align with the most recently published circular economy strategy for 2026 to 2028, which was published in March. This updated plan will set the direction of infrastructure needs, including how we increase the capture of recyclable materials and reduce our reliance on incineration. That is being worked on and I am being briefed as regards when it will be published in the coming months, if not weeks.

While I cannot today announce any specific start date for any State-funded sorting technology, the policy framework is very clear. We have the regulatory signals with regard to the EPR schemes now in place. Even with the likes of Repak, we have extended it to a ten-year duration, which gives certainty to the sector that it can invest in that type of technology and align exactly with the type of investment the Senator outlined earlier.

I welcome the point the Minister of State made on how the commitment will be met, because it is a programme for Government commitment. I appreciate that, as he stated, the role of the Department and Government is largely in setting policy. However, this is a programme for Government commitment, so it is criticat to give certainty to the sector that this commitment is met and that a timeline is laid out for that. The packaging and packaging waste regulation, PPWR, as I mentioned, was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024, replacing the packaging directive. This is the key policy on packaging recycling for the coming decade. The PPWR requires that packaging waste is recycled at scale, meaning packaging waste must be separated, collected, sorted and recycled through installed infrastructure.

I welcome the fact the Minister of State made a commitment to putting the funding in place. As I said, it is a modest scale of funding. This is material that, if it is not diverted for recycling, is going to end up in the big hungry beast out in Poolbeg. It is not just highly recyclable materials but also material that is highly calorific and valuable for incineration. I hope the Government will make this much-needed investment in the sector as soon as possible.

Again, I acknowledge Senator Noonan's questions and I understand the urgency in regard to investment in critical infrastructure. However, any proposal for direct public investment in sorting technology would need to be evidence based.

It would also need to be costed and justified, given the sector involves a large number of commercially operated firms. We would have to understand that where there is clear market failure, the absence of the EPR-funded investment alone is insufficient. That is why we want many of the EPR operators to work with the sectors on how we can continue to deliver measurable improvements in recycling outcomes. That is where we want to get to in achieving the targets, which have been challenging in recent years, to say the least.

However, with the new PPWR, there is an opportunity to reduce unnecessary packaging, increase demand for recycling content and create a stronger and more stable market for recyclate. That is what we all want to achieve. We want to give certainty to investors, allow for multi-year funding commitments and support large-scale investment in waste infrastructure, including advanced sorting and recovery facilities. We will see the new EU regulation, national policy and EPR funding all being aligned and put in the same direction. That will increase recycling rates and reduce incineration, while also keeping valuable materials in circulation within the economy.