Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 11, line 39, to delete "Act 2010." and substitute the following:"Act 2010;

"Birds Directive" means Council Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds.".

We are heading into a separate element of the Bill, one which is quite controversial. The Minister will agree with me that, as a society, we have treated the natural environment poorly over recent decades. The sea around us has become a soup of plastic. There has been a massive reduction in the ecosystem and the diversity of wildlife species in it. We have seen the destruction of the natural environment in many different places. The Oireachtas has a responsibility to ensure we pass on the depth and quality of natural diversity as best we can to the next generation. We also have a responsibility to the farmers to ensure they can make a living. Some of the details in this Bill do not resolve the difficulties farmers have. We have a responsibility to make roads safe for people. Local authorities can facilitate this with the cutting of hedges and ditches to ensure road users can get through. We can achieve those three objectives but not with this Bill in its current format.

This Bill's measures will do damage to the ecosystem and the diversity of wildlife we have. We have a symbiotic relationship with our environment, being dependent on the ecosystem around us. Pollinators are one of the great examples of this. Farming is dependent on the fact that there should be decent numbers of pollinators. In-depth research in Germany and other countries has shown how there has been a stark reduction in pollinator numbers. This is an accelerating process and not something which has been occurring for years.

Today, I had the opportunity to accept a petition from several different organisations which hold wildlife in their protection. There were 31,000 different-----