Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

More generally, what we heard earlier was essentially a critique of the way our investment decisions are made. It was said that the models we use are too reductive and that we are not looking at the systemic or strategic challenge that issues like biodiversity and climate present.

It is inherently incremental, as opposed to looking at whether we require a significant shift in policy. How does the Department react to that critique? If there is more than a grain of truth to it, as I believe, how can biodiversity targets feature in the approach we take? They are hard to price. If there is a cost–benefit analysis, biodiversity tends to be in the also-ran category and hard to value, and therefore gets shunted to the sidelines. How does Mr. Owens react to the critique that at this stage of what is effectively a crisis, we need to have a systemic shift rather than use the models we have?