To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the estimated drop in the number of plastic bags used that will be achieved with the introduction of the 25p plastic bag levy, in comparison with the 5p levy.

The Carrier Bag Levy in Northern Ireland (NI) is already the most extensive of its type in the United Kingdom, as it applies to all bags and not just plastic, with the revised legislation set to further extend its scope.

Since introduction in 2013, it has already removed in excess of 1.7 billion bags from circulation with the most recent published validated statistics (August 2021), outlining a decrease of 81.3% from the 2012 pre levy baseline distribution figure of 300 million bags.

Prior to the most recent levy consultation across NI, a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was carried out by my Departments economists with analysis outlining that while significant uncertainty currently surrounds shopping trends, high street trading and market structure post COVID, bag use could potentially be reduced by a further 39% when a 25p charge is introduced .

This potential further reduction is premised on the basis that the higher the increase in the levy, the bigger the decrease will be in overall carrier bag circulation and usage and I am confident that changes to the regulations will reduce the overall number of bags in circulation and make NI a cleaner, greener and a better place to live and do business.