The Government has been criticised by the Green Party for its "appalling" record in using recycled stationery.
Three Government Departments did not buy any recycled stationery last year.
They were the Tánaiste's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; the Department of Finance; and the Department of Transport.
Other Departments used as little as seven and 10 per cent of recycled paper, while the Departments of Education and Agriculture were unable to supply the information sought in parliamentary questions by Mr Ciarán Cuffe, a Green Party deputy.
The Departments with the most environmentally-friendly record were Environment; Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs; and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, where between 60 and 100 per cent of stationery was on recycled paper.
The Department of Justice did not say it used recycled paper but said all its paper came from "forest control methods" and was made from 100 per cent pulp with chlorine-free bleach.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment spent €185,423 on stationery last year, but none of this was recycled paper, Ms Harney said in the Dáil this week.
"The question of the use of recycled paper will be addressed as part of the Department's move to 'green' purchasing and the purchase of recycled material where possible."
The Department of Finance spent €275,000 on stationery last year, but again none of it was recycled paper.
The Department of Foreign Affairs did not provide a precise figure on its use of recycled stationery. Most envelopes and manila files contained from 70 to 85 per cent recycled pulp.
The Department of the Environment bought recycled paper "wherever possible", according to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen. In most cases, recycled stationery accounted for 97 to 100 per cent of all stationery, with the exception of Met Éireann where just 50 per cent of photocopier paper was from recycled materials.
The Vehicle Registration Unit, which comes under the department's aegis, bought almost four million "off-standard" window envelopes which were not made from recycled materials.
Approximately 41 per cent of the Department of Health's spend on paper went on recycled paper, while 31 per cent of stationery bought by the Department of Defence last year was recycled.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, said her Department spent more than €4.3 million on stationery last year, and 7 per cent of this was made from recycled paper.
The results were "shocking but not surprising", Mr Cuffe said yesterday.
"You would expect the Department of the Environment to be bending over backwards to use recyclable paper, but it's just not good enough if other Departments don't bother.
"Using recycled paper is one simple step to becoming more environmentally-aware, and it is vital that the Government leads by example."
Mr Cuffe said the Government's attitude was "symptomatic of the Government's position on environment issues in general".
Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) also criticised the findings. Its spokesman, Mr David Healy, pointed out that the Government was a very important buyer of paper because of the number of offices involved. "So if it switched from one product to another it would really make the market."
He said Supporting recycled paper would also bring down the cost of paper.
