Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed)
Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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Some of the agencies I mentioned along with others have a commercial mandate and operate as semi-State bodies within a commercial system. Their purpose is to make a profit and provide a dividend to the State so there is a conflicting interest in some of these agencies. I am trying to get to a point of balance.
There is often a very legitimate commercial reason, whether it is Coillte providing lumber for construction or Bord na Móna, which is getting big into renewable energy and which is challenging from the perspective of the impact on nature. How does the service approach the challenge of the issue of balance with respect to nature protection and the other objectives of the State?