Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I gave some extended time because it is important and interesting to hear about that community engagement.

I will take the next slot. Having visited NPWS sites recently and met staff, the enthusiasm is very noticeable, as is the fact staff are there at all. I recall being on radio before the 2016 general election, battling to say we needed to address the nature and biodiversity crisis. It was not as topical at that point, but I was battling for it anyway. I was on a programme with a Minister of the day, who said it was the NPWS that looks after nature. I said in response that I thought its funding had been cut by up to 70% over the preceding couple of years, that there was no recruitment or planning for the organisation and that it had been passed from one Department to the other, and I asked how, therefore, we could expect it to be able to do anything. That was only 2016, but the figures the witnesses gave us in their opening statement show the funding has gone from €28.7 million in 2020 to almost €70 million four years later and that the staff recruitment has gone from 350 to 537.

In light of the European nature restoration regulations having been passed and the nature restoration plan we are going to have to put together between now and 2026, backed by that €3.1 billion climate and nature fund; in light of the national biodiversity action plan having been put on a statutory footing, something we had sought for a long time; and in light of everything coming together like that, with the resources and the support, it is right that the National Parks and Wildlife Service is back in the Custom House. What does that do for morale and an organisation and how does it help in that strategic planning? Obviously, it has to give the service a lot of comfort and confidence to say it has this funding in place and that it knows this is the trajectory it is on. Does it help with recruitment or to put all those actions in place?