Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Citizens' Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed)
Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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This is not a question; it is more about what we should do out of this session. We are currently having sessions on the citizens' assembly and biodiversity. We will put a report together on the recommendations for that, which will form an Oireachtas report. The previous session was with Inland Fisheries Ireland. One of the things Dr. Ó Cinnéide said that alarmed me was that the national biodiversity action plan, which I spoke about, is already at draft stage and we expect the final report by January. I will say to my fellow committee members that it will be an unbelievably missed opportunity if we do not include the previous sessions we had around biodiversity loss and today's session with the youth citizens' assembly. If that does not form part of the national biodiversity action plan, it will be a real missed opportunity. Our findings from these sessions should be included in the national biodiversity action plan, along with targets. I understand that Dr. Ó Cinnéide said there would not be any binding targets. If it is to be a truly different biodiversity action plan, there need to be targets. I wanted to make that general point.