Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister referred to our time in government. According to recent Central Statistics Office data, environmental protection annual spending was approximately €600 million per year before our time in government, and during our time in government it averaged over €1.1 billion. Since Fine Gael has taken power, it has dropped to an average of approximately €400 million, or a third of what it was in our time. I am proud of that record as we have paid serious attention to the need for environmental protection.

I agree with those who said earlier that the real problem is uncontrolled burning but in this legislation we are throwing matches around the country up to March. How will one tell when there is smoke on the mountain if it is a legal fire or uncontrolled? Currently, we can tell that any fire at that time would not be appropriate. We are giving an effective carte blanchefor uncontrolled burning to take off earlier. In a world of climate change, there may be circumstances not seen this year where there could be a very dry early spring and uncontrolled fires could take off. We are throwing petrol on the flames because we do not have a National Parks and Wildlife Service that is fit for purpose. In resourcing enforcement, we must address that service. We are not only throwing matches around but we are doing it without having any real fire protection procedures or resources. For all those reasons it would be far better to do the research.

It is true that the loss of the curlew is complex. I argue much of it is due to habitat loss, particularly from peat extraction in what were traditional wet and marshy upland areas best suited to the curlew. From an ecological perspective we consider the entire system and we should examine uplands in an holistic fashion as a connected system. We should design them for maximum biological protection. An extension of the burning season does not in any way support that. The Minister has slightly changed her comments. She started by saying this would be good for the curlew but it is not. The loss of the curlew may not just be due to upland burnings but it certainly will not help. The continuation of the current practices and system leaves a lack of attention to the fact that our uplands environments are seriously degraded and not meeting ecological imperatives. We should be doing this in a much broader and more holistic way rather than just extending the burning season, which does nothing but bad things in my mind.

Does the Minister refute the findings of the report from the UK presented by the Irish Wildlife Trust? The main reason she set out for the burning practice is to allow for grouse or other bird management by cutting back heather. It would seem there is a significant UK study indicating that is a false scientific argument and we should change our policy on that basis.