Ms Oonagh Duggan:

I have a comment. In the past year in particular, but also prior to that, even back to the heritage Bill campaign, we saw a public response to the proposed weakening of the laws protecting breeding birds. The response was phenomenal.

In the past year, we have seen people return to taking an interest in birds and nature as a means of respite and to get away from the bad and sad news we are hearing all the time. That has been reflected in the membership increase at BirdWatch Ireland and a major increase in interest in nature generally. The tide has turned. The public are behind measures and initiatives. They want to see change, biodiversity restored and climate change tackled. There is where I see the hope. This as an exciting time. The red list makes for pretty depressing reading but there is a momentum now, which includes momentum for Deputies and Senators to help us to get to where we need to be.