Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I thank Mr. Finnegan. I will add to Senator Higgins’s question on the timeframe for this discussion. Mr. Finnegan stressed that we are at a very early stage, and I appreciate that a great deal of work needs to be done. There is perhaps a conflict across member states with regard to how they deal with wildlife and environmental crime and so on. What is the thinking in the Department in respect of the fact that this EU legislation could be coming down the tracks and it may or may not go anywhere? Is there a view in the Department that this is a parallel process which will not influence reforms nationally? Are we going to get on with improving our legislation on environmental crime? I am concerned that the signalling of this legislation from Europe could put a stay on improving the situation here at home.