Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make a point of clarification before asking dhá cheist. I appreciate and empathise with the work the NPWS is doing. I see it at first hand on a local project.

The Chair will agree that, the longer we stay in this job, the more cynical and sceptical we tend to get, so the witnesses will understand I am framing my question’s wording from that stance. I ask them to put themselves in the shoes of NARGC members. Our understanding is that a stakeholder forum will not be set up until quarter four of 2024 or quarter 1 of 2025. That is fine, but we hear that a meeting has already taken place with the CEOs of the environmental NGOs. This causes a degree of scepticism, especially in an era when there should be a collective input from all parties. A degree of damage has been done to the process. I suggest that a meeting similar to the one held for the environmentalist groups be convened for the NARGC, its affiliated groups and anyone else it deems necessary. In advance of that, the NPWS should share with the NARGC the minutes of the meeting that took place. It is important this committee sees those minutes as well and that there be another meeting. We will then all go into quarter 4 of this year or quarter 1 of 2025 brimming with confidence and knowing we are on an equal footing.