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

I thank the NPWS officials for attending today. These are sessions we should have on a more frequent basis. On the whole biodiversity issue, a point that we constantly make here is that it falls between a lot of different Departments. I would love if this committee would have more regular sessions with the NPWS because I find them very helpful and we get a lot of good work done on biodiversity.

Starting on a positive, our guests have touched on the increased resources the NPWS has and the increased staffing. I have said before that I see a positive sea change in terms of the approach of the NPWS in terms of staff morale. I do not mean to be disrespectful to anybody but I feel that years ago, staff sometimes felt frustrated about the resources they had at their disposal and the achievements they could make in respect of wildlife crime or habitat management, surveys or whatever other work might have been involved. I genuinely see a strongly positive change in that regard over the past couple of years. Nobody would have known who the NPWS ranger in a community was, really. They were stretched over a massive geographical area. For example, in west Cork we now have three or four rangers covering distinct areas of west Cork. We all know who they are, we know them by name. They are ecologists, wildlife enthusiasts. I do not think that was always the case but they are now. It is making a massive difference. It is almost like the local community garda on the ground or the parish priest. We know who they are, they are working with communities and getting to know them. It is fantastic and can only benefit us. That is really positive and credit has to be given there.

On the national biodiversity action plan, NBAP, it has to be one of the most ambitious pieces of work we have seen. A lot of time has passed since the last one. This has to be far-reaching and ambitious and must include real change. That is really important. I hope it does reflect a lot of the public submissions that were made in that regard. On areas that are designated for biodiversity or biodiversity management, looking at the presentation - I was able to tune in and hear every word even though I was late for the meeting - there does seem to be a lot of regions left without designation or protected areas. I am looking at the maps here. The officials are familiar with them. For special areas of conservation, there is a lot of concentration down the west coast.

I am being a bit parochial but there seems to be a gap involving the entire south coast, including Waterford. It is the same with the SPAs. Again, there are not that many of them along the south coast. As for national parks, there is no national park in Cork or west Cork. Again, there seems to be a bit of a gap on the south coast in regard to nature reserves. What I am getting at is that I think the nature reserves are the opportunity to address that deficit. I urge the NPWS to take this opportunity given that there is finance and seems to be financial backing to buy up suitable areas of land.

Deputy Paul Murphy mentioned the Conor Pass. I know it is sensitive in terms of discussions and that the NPWS cannot be held to ransom because it is State-backed, but there is a huge opportunity there for the State to buy vast areas of land, regardless of how big or small the parcels of land are, to turn them into nature reserves, manage the biodiversity of the area and the species that use it and perhaps create habitats for species that we may be able to bring back or entice into the area. That is a huge opportunity and I urge the NPWS to follow that course of action. While it cannot jump into deals and pay over-the-top prices, I hope that money would not be a barrier to purchasing many of these sites as they may not be suitable for agriculture. They may be marshland, reed beds, etc. That is a significant opportunity.

My last question relates to the approach involved in the protection of our existing national parks. Deputy Whitmore touched on management plans for national parks. I refer specifically to Killarney National Park, which has some stunning oak woodland but it appears that much of that woodland is deteriorating. The reasons include, as we mentioned, invasive species like rhododendron and laurel. There was no mention of the work that is being done there. I always feel that more can be done. Teams nationally that are perhaps outside the NPWS but that have the skills and expertise to do so should be brought into the fold to ensure we get on top of that. It is almost an impossible task, but we should try.

My next point is perhaps a controversial one but one that should be looked at. It is how we deal with invasive species. It is grand talking about invasive species that none of us likes but then there are the cute, cuddly ones that we do not want to see tackled. Japanese Sika deer is one of those. That species is causing untold disruption to many of our native woodlands, the very little native woodland that remains, because they graze and graze and the undergrowth is destroyed and any new saplings or trees that may potentially grow are eaten up. It is a problem and we cannot ignore it. It may involve a cull. I would like to get the opinion of the witnesses on that. Is it appropriate to look at culling the species?

I will finish on this point. One thing that we can certainly do is put up appropriate fencing to stop grazing animals entering these areas of woodland. We have seen it work in other areas where fencing was introduced to stop grazing animals from getting in. The regeneration, regrowth and abundance of native flora and fauna that thrive within these fenced areas are incredible. We should at least do that. Culling is controversial but we should seriously look at it for Japanese Sika deer. At the very least, we should put up high-quality, effective fencing as we would see major results.