Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Bleasdale for his opening statement and the slide presentation, which was very interesting. There is a lot in there for us to delve into and we will try to do that. I ask members to indicate to ask questions and we will take a list. I point out again the five minutes for questions and answers, but I will be as fair as I can and give latitude where I think it is beneficial.

I have a quick question on the remit of the NPWS and the extent of the national biodiversity action plan that is coming. To what extent is the service looking at biodiversity restoration outside the national parks, SPAs, SACs and the national heritage sites, or is its remit very much to look just at those sites? We saw the maps there with many areas highlighted in red that are very much in the service's jurisdiction but there is a lot of land area that is not indicated in red. We obviously need to protect and enhance biodiversity in these areas but we certainly need to do it outside them as well.