Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have just joined the meeting and I hope I will not ask questions Dr. Lynn has already answered. My first question is on the European Green Deal and the ambitious target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030. We have signed up to this on a global and European level but my understanding is that we have not signed up to it at national level. Does that need to happen? Will it be included in the upcoming biodiversity action plan? Is it being looked at? Unless the targets are set, it will be very difficult to achieve.

I would like to know more about the 10% that is highly protected. There is 30% protected and 10% highly protected. The next aspect I want to discuss comes back to targets. The committee has been through setting targets for climate emissions on a legislative basis. Would it be a good idea to have something similar for biodiversity? If it is not in legislation, it is more difficult to get it through, particularly for future Governments. We do not know what will happen down the road.

The National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, fund was expanded recently to include biodiversity measures. There is a considerable amount of money in the fund and it tends to be used for climate emission measures. Is the Department looking to utilise some of this funding?