Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To answer David's question, he might be talking about one of the marine protected areas. There are very few in Ireland. However, one of the tasks Ireland has, and it is an international obligation, is that we have to meet many more marine protected area targets. As well as the biodiversity action plan, it is hoped there will also soon be legislation around marine protected areas and a further looking to designate different places in Ireland as such areas. One thing we need to make sure of is that when we designate areas as protected, we also put a lot of resources into enforcing that and minding the different kinds of species that are there. I really like the idea of us having many more parks and protected areas throughout the country, including those that people in towns and cities can access. I like that suggestion from Conor. We are looking at our obligation being something like 30%. Our guests should definitely identify areas for nature in their local areas, even if these are currently a Coillte wood or something else. It is partly about us starting to identify every area we can and turning them into a national park or biodiverse safe area.