Mr. Pádraic Fogarty:

I thank the Deputy for his question. The National Parks and Wildlife Service is probably the most important piece of the jigsaw in terms of pulling all of the different strands together, getting it right and setting us up for the next decade. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has never once been under the same governance structure for ten consecutive years. It has been sent from one Department to another and has come under the remit of various Ministers. It has therefore been subject to the varying levels of interest of those Ministers. A review of the NPWS is under way at the moment. It should be made an independent agency so that it can build itself up again, communicate the science, tell Departments what needs to be done in Government plans and programmes and perform an educational function, all in the knowledge that its structure is not going to be shifted, moved or undermined after the next election cycle. For us, a model like that of the Environmental Protection Agency would be ideal. That is crucial if we are going to get a handle on these issues and reap the benefits of the opportunities available for the next decade.