Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, that would be great, just to see what plans are afoot to deal with that outbreak.

Moving on to the upcoming conference and convention, Dr. Lynn mentioned, and Deputy Whitmore touched on, the question of the 30% targets for land and sea. Does Dr. Lynn feel that it would be a good idea that, instead of that being a European average, it is done on a country-by-country basis? The reason I say that is that some EU nations are quite strong already on their conservation areas and protected areas and some are quite weak, and I would include Ireland in the latter. If we use this average, is there a tendency to let some countries off lightly?

The upcoming agri-environment scheme will be launched shortly. The NPWS has a role in that, particularly from the points of view of science and data collection. As for the co-operation areas, that is, the areas, particularly in the west of Ireland, where farmers will be able to avail of the highest payments for results-based or bespoke schemes, I feel there is potentially a lack of data in some of those areas. For example, the Beara Peninsula and large parts of Kerry in the south west are included, but the Mizen Peninsula, which has very similar features and species to those of the Beara Peninsula, is for some reason excluded. It is said that that is based on scientific data and NPWS data, but is it worth commenting that there is probably a lack of data in a lot of these areas and that, therefore, they should be looked at again? I feel there will be very much a missed opportunity if we leave large portions of those areas out. Dr. Lynn might comment on that.

I attended the biodiversity conference during the week. The following is more of a general point. I would like a comment on it from Dr. Lynn. One of the recurring comments was that we tend in most western countries to measure wealth specifically as economic and financial wealth and that the wealth of our national heritage and biodiversity does not really feature. Does Dr. Lynn think we should look at that going forward and that when we measure the wealth of a country or how well a country is doing, we should include that?

I have one more question. I am sorry for overwhelming Dr. Lynn with these. My last question is about biodiversity officers. Dr. Lynn touched on it in previous comments. At the moment we have heritage officers but, unfortunately, when they are in local authorities, the scope of their work is just so broad that biodiversity can sometimes very much take a back seat. For example, the biodiversity officer in Cork County Council does a fantastic job, but his role is very much focused on heritage, history and the unveiling of plaques for commemorations. There seems to be very little focus on biodiversity. I would like an update on the role of biodiversity officers and how quickly we might see them rolled out into local authorities. Local authorities are significant landowners and, therefore, have a significant role to play in protecting biodiversity and increasing habitat. Therefore, biodiversity teams - not just an officer - and plans are absolutely essential.