Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was thinking of the issue of bottlenecks in the system. The issue was previously raised in respect of planning, in the context of An Bord Pleanála only having one ecologist, which was significant. I was referring to the need for more skills in the area. As well as looking at the EU tools, including environmental impact assessments and considering the directives, I was asking whether there is an opportunity for upskilling on the SDGs and the targets and indicators within them to enable us to begin to factor them in and think about them in planning processes or decision-making, for example. My question was around awareness. The SDGs are meant to be getting integrated into everything that we are doing. I thought that perhaps putting them alongside some of the hard EU tools might be useful.

I might just ask my supplementary question now and Dr. Lynn can respond to both questions together. Dr. Lynn is correct. I have been discussing the issue of land grabbing in the international context. Dr. Lynn mentioned cost-benefit analysis. There are other important points to raise in respect of the EU. First, due diligence legislation is coming through. Second, according to the EU rules on taxonomy, biodiversity should not be damaged. It is meant to be one of the safeguards built into the taxonomy. Therefore, we have one legislative tool and one investment tool that require the collation of solid information around biodiversity and the environment. Is that done through the CSO or will the Department have to upskill staff to ensure that the relevant information is being gathered as part of due diligence and decisions around the taxonomy? Lastly, the EU proposal on the nature restoration law is due to be adopted on 22 June. The law may well be considered by this committee and others. I ask Dr. Lynn for her thoughts on the new restoration law and the package that goes with it. What should we be looking out for in order to ensure that the law is as strong as it could be?