Ms Oonagh Duggan:

I will respond first and Dr. Donaghy can contribute afterwards if she wishes. Dr. Donaghy is in Donegal and I am in County Wicklow so we are poles apart. I thank the Deputy for her questions. There is a need for much more research, especially surveying and monitoring, as well as conservation research on wild birds in general. Unfortunately, this sector was underfunded for a long time but things have picked up in the past year, which is great.

As regards what happens when a bird is added to the red list, the critical question is taking the action to ensure that the species can be turned around. It requires a co-ordinated approach among a range of Departments. For a curlew, for example, that would relate to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications in respect of renewable energy. Many cross-cutting actions would need to be implemented by all Departments. Where we see things falling down is the lack of implementation and also in the fact that policies are still not in line with retaining our biodiversity. It is really hard to ensure that species action plans are infiltrated or integrated completely into these policies. With regard to the hen harrier, for example, the hen harrier European innovation programme has been a great programme. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was very brave in taking on all the European innovation partnerships, EIPs. They were a new departure for the Department and they are excellent projects for working with people on the ground to take action. However, we are still waiting for a hen harrier threat response plan. We hope to see that soon from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. There is a multitude of measures that can be taken to save species when they get on the red list. There is just a need for the will, funding and a co-ordinated approach to get there.