Dr. Liam Lysaght:

I thank the Senator. What happened in Killarney is a real tragedy. It is an amazing habitat and landscape and an asset to the locality, as well as an amazing national asset. The scale of damage is phenomenal. It will take years to recover, if it ever recovers. It is kind of symptomatic of how we deal with natural areas. It is a fantastic asset and on one level the local community and tourism is dependent on it, but the resources and proper effective management that the area deserves have not been put into the woodlands. A kind of dual approach has been taken to it. We like to have the picture postcard scene with the associated tourism benefits, but the harsh reality is that we actually have to invest it in as an asset and it needs to be managed properly. It is kind of symptomatic of how poorly we treat the natural environment and do not invest in it for society.