Dr. M?che?l ? Cinn?ide:

In response to the query from Deputy Bruton on it is about one agency being responsible for enforcement, I agree with the answer that Mr. O'Donnell gave, namely, that it is not about one agency necessarily being responsible for all enforcement in either freshwater or in nature. Rather, it is about there being better collaboration between agencies that have specialised and dedicated teams. The IFI and the EPA have them, but the NPWS does not seem to have taken this approach so far.

A review of the NPWS was carried out in 2021. I was one of the co-authors of the report. We had a public submission from the EPA then and it stated that collaboration in enforcement would be further advanced through the active participation of the NPWS in the national enforcement network. There is such a network. It is very strong and involves the sharing of intelligence and expertise between the EPA and local authorities. I worked for ten years as the director of the EPA. It was very difficult to get the NPWS to be part of that because it is not set up to be part of it. The organisation does not have an enforcement team. The NPWS has spoken of a wildlife unit. It is not clear whether it is fully functioning. In my view, it needs to be strengthened. Then the links that were mentioned, in respect of the NPWS working with the IFI, and in respect of there being cross-mandates and the sharing of expertise and intelligence with An Garda Síochána and the EPA, would bring us a long way in this regard.

Turning to the two questions from the Deputy, I agree that the statutory approach to biodiversity needs to be strengthened and brought up significantly. What we heard the last day was the biodiversity action plan, in its current format, will have a statutory basis. This is a step forward. I do not want to be too dismissive of it, but it is not enough. I say this because of what is contained in that plan. The statutory approach to biodiversity means that there will be an annual report on what is already there. We need to go much further with targets and link this more closely, statutorily, with climate and water protection. Those three areas must be in harmony and this is a challenge that has not been tackled yet.

Moving to the issue of national agencies, it is not likely that there will be one national agency, as such, for nature. The NPWS is filling this space. At a regional level, though, the river basin management plan refers to catchment fora for all the catchments. This would include the NPWS, fisheries and local NGOs. This needs to be progressed and strengthened. If we do not end up having one national agency, then more collaboration at regional level, including with the public, would greatly help. I thank the committee.