Green Party Bill aims to ban disposable plastic cups

The Dáil may be set to take the next step towards banning disposable plastic cups tonight.

The Green Party have proposed a Bill which would introduce a deposit scheme for bottles, and encourage coffee drinkers to bring their own reusable cups.

The Bill also has the support of Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Labour.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says Ireland should follow the lead of other countries who have cut down on packaging.

"The French are doing this, they're banning the cups the same way we're planning to do," he said.

"The Scottish are doing the deposit refund, they're looking at that as an option.

"So I hope what we'll do, hopefully it gets through second stage tonight, then we're going to sit down with the Government and all parties, and work out in real detail the specifics of how we introduce it."