Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I have a question for the SEAI. I am really keen, as is I think everyone else on the committee, when we talk about climate change that we also talk about biodiversity and making sure any actions that are taken to address and to meet our climate targets do not inadvertently impact biodiversity. Yesterday I was contacted by someone asking about swifts and whether they had started migrating back into Ireland yet because they have been quite late this year. There has been a 60% decline in swift numbers over the past 20 years. Someone replied to me privately to say they had got their house retrofitted. Swifts used to live under the eaves of the house, but they got external insulation on it and they do not have swifts any more. Is that something the SEAI takes into account or has the Department even considered it? Is there even a very basic assessment to be done on houses that are retrofitted to ensure that, if they are to be retrofitted to the point that they will impact bat or bird species, alternatives such as swift boxes are provided to those households as part of the retrofitting package? The witnesses were not expecting that question, were they?