Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Lynn for her presentation and for outlining some of those elements. The key thing for me is the 60 new staff she mentioned and the additional funding of €55 million, which will have enormous benefits for the NPWS. I know there will be an internal review to improve the service that is there. I want to compliment Dr. Lynn and her colleagues within the NPWS for the work they do on a daily basis. Its remit is quite broad, as Dr. Lynn outlined in her opening statement, but I want to touch on a few matters.

One of the issues that have been mentioned was the MPAs and the special protection areas, SPAs. That was interesting to me because I represent Dún Laoghaire, a coastal constituency, and one where we are familiar with the SPAs. There has to be a balance between the SPAs and other uses of land adjacent to the SPAs. We need to find that balance in order to try to make progress on various schemes.

I was glad to hear Dr. Lynn's emphasis on biodiversity. The pollination corridors are a key function for some of the Tidy Towns groups. I know that some officials in the local authorities, such as Anne Murray, the biodiversity officer in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, are keen on promoting them but we can never get enough of them. I hear what Dr. Lynn is saying about open spaces and Deputy Alan Farrell referred to that as well. They cannot all be manicured to within an inch of their lives either. We have to let nature grow and we have to protect bees and other wildlife, such as birds, which Dr. Lynn referenced. How does Dr. Lynn envisage that we can expand pollinating corridors and other such initiatives to ensure that is a crucial element in the next national biodiversity action plan? We need to see progress being made, not just in rural areas but in urban areas as well. In Dublin in particular we need to see greater progress on that. I also agree with Dr. Lynn that there is great buy-in from the public on this. They want to be informed so they can co-operate on and facilitate this, be that in their back garden, their estate or their community.

I mentioned biodiversity and Dr. Lynn will probably be familiar with Killiney Hill. I have spoken here several times about the red squirrel project that was launched in 2015. It was quite innovative at the time but again, local authorities are supported in this way to try to encourage greater biodiversity and protect certain species. Dalkey Island has an Arctic tern colony and I know the NPWS has been greatly involved in that.

Dr. Lynn mentioned water quality and rivers. We have to make a greater effort to the ensure the quality of water in our rivers. They have improved in recent years but things like missed connections, particularly in urban areas, are a big issue. It is amazing what one missed connection can do to the quality of a river in an urban area. Dr. Lynn might speak to that point.

We need to see greater progress on reforestation too. We need to protect the forests we have. Again I am speaking from an urban perspective because we need to ensure we do everything we can under the next plan to safeguard the forests we enjoy, which are used by the public as great amenities. I thank Dr. Lynn for her presentation.