Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank members. On Deputy Duffy's point, I do not think we can speak in isolation on the nature restoration law because a national nature restoration plan will flow from that. That is going to be very exacting, by the way. My Department has interacted on that and I am not sure that people understand the import of it. It is needed. There has been a lot of political debate on it and there have been some political divisions on it, even within parties. This will be a very significant change.

Deputy Boyd Barrett is correct. I recall when the urban meadows came to Fingal, at first, people complained about them, left, right and centre, but they are now the norm. That shows what the local authorities have done, to be fair, notwithstanding the case of his friend, whom I am sorry to hear about. Many people who advocated for them and they have come into the mainstream.

What I am saying, in particular around biodiversity, is that I have given a commitment. I am not sure if Deputy Boyd Barrett was present earlier when I mentioned that. It is about looking to strengthen those definitions within the Bill, and I am going to do that because it is very important. This Bill will be an Act and it will be our guide for at least the next 25 years, I would expect. Will it be open to amendment over that period? Yes, it will. The new nature restoration law and what flows from that, not just the objectives but, effectively, the priorities of our State, as a member of the European Union, in bringing about nature restoration, are going to be very important. I have no doubt the drafting of a nature restoration plan for Ireland will be binding and will be challenging for some communities. That speaks to what I am saying about the practical implementation, which is very important.

As it stands, and I am not going to go over old ground, I am not accepting the amendments as they are drafted today. I have said with regard to water resources that I will look at that and we will strengthen, where appropriate, the biodiversity definition or how that is reflected within the Bill.

On the amendment on well-being and the built environment, I understand the point that is being made and I share some of the Deputies’ concerns about the objective that the built environment should seek to improve public health or, at the very least, mitigate against negative impacts. We are doing that in many of our new developments and it can be seen on the ground; we are absolutely doing that.

One of the challenges has been retrofitting into existing communities that may have been planned badly, to ensure the resources and amenities are also available to them. I will leave it at that.