Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Having addressed the Fine Gael Government’s inaction on this issue at national level yesterday, I welcome the opportunity to address the global and intergovernmental context of the biodiversity crisis. Regarding some of the Minister's comments when she referred to Fianna Fáil's time in government, I remind her that was almost ten years ago. I appreciate that she is new to her role. I have full confidence in her and I appreciate the efforts she is making and the measures she is bringing forward to tackle biodiversity. However, her Government's record during its tenure in office has been pretty abysmal.

As I noted yesterday, it was Fianna Fáil’s amendment that provided for the Dáil’s declaration of a climate emergency and a biodiversity emergency. Fianna Fáil also called for the biodiversity crisis to be examined by the Citizens’ Assembly. There is full agreement in this House that the situation relating to biodiversity in Ireland is at crisis levels. The dire state of affairs here very much mirrors the disturbing global picture. The assessment report of the UN intergovernmental platform is the largest and most comprehensive assessment on the health of nature ever published. It underlines that we are faced with a global emergency. Ecosystems are rapidly declining and a million species are at risk of extinction. The global assessment report is extremely disturbing because it clearly shows that we will leave behind a much worse world for future generations.

The report notes that the main drivers of global biodiversity loss include the massive increases in production and excessive working of land and soils, as well as the climate crisis and rising levels of pollution. It highlights the extremely damaging impacts of wastewater, plastics and fertilisers. I emphasised yesterday that destruction of biodiversity does not only mean loss of species. The Irish public will suffer significant environmental, economic and health impacts without radical Government action. My colleague, Deputy Eugene Murphy, alluded to that during the debate which preceded this one. If trends continue, there is much greater risk of disruption to our agriculture and forestry sectors. I draw the Minister’s attention to the very informative list of necessary measures detailed in that report. It is important the Government clearly addresses how it is integrating these into departmental strategies. The report calls for: massive investments in afforestation and other green infrastructure; reducing levels of consumption and waste; shifting incentives and subsidies to encourage protective measures; revising trade rules and accounting for nature deterioration in international trade; stronger environmental laws and ensuring enforcement; and public awareness raising campaigns on biodiversity protection. These are the key recommendations in the report that we need to see integrated into departmental strategies.

Naturally, responses are very much linked to action in respect of the current climate emergency. However, Ireland’s approach to climate policy at international level has been to trumpet itself as a supposed exception, calling for weaker metrics and regulations and demanding less onerous obligations instead of planning on how to meet the demands. The Government's initial climate plan was poor. The reaction of so many citizens in demanding real action now has been so strong that it will bring forward a new one in June.

Ireland needs to regain credibility within the EU and UN in the context of the climate and biodiversity crises. Yet just before the schools’ strike for climate action in March, all of Fine Gael’s MEPs voted against an amendment to increase the EU’s 2030 target. The Government has also refused to join other progressive EU member states and support greater climate ambition in the EU Council. This Government’s approach goes directly to the public's demands. On Friday last, on foot of the RedC exit poll, we learned that almost 90% of voters feel that the Government needs to prioritise climate change more that it is doing at present.

At international level, Ireland must lead the way in drawing up new global goals for biodiversity so agreement can be reached at the next meeting on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in China in 2020. It should also lead the way at EU level and ensure the sustainable development goals and targets are prioritised in EU legislation.

The Minister stated yesterday that the Government’s efforts are bearing fruit and that progress is being made to protect biodiversity and habitats. Perhaps this is the message the Minister hears at the Cabinet table but it is not the message the rest of us are hearing from citizens on the ground. The necessary examination of this emergency by the Citizens’ Assembly is a reflection of the failure of the Government to adequately prioritise biodiversity protections. A co-ordinated strategy which integrates biodiversity objectives into policy-making is needed across all Departments and public bodies, particularly Bord na Móna and Coillte. The Government must ensure the enforcement of existing environmental laws and restore budgetary allocations to relevant State agencies to pre-recession levels. We also need greater investment in ecology staff, particularly in local authorities, in order to review ecological impacts of developments and improve enforcement of environmental protections.

I do not need to tell the Minister that the country is covered with litter as a result of illegal dumping. Every local authority, including that in my area in Cavan, is completely under-resourced in the context of dealing with this problem. We have one person or two at the most on the group in my local authority area who are able to go out and investigate illegal dumping and they then have to clean up the mess and try to find evidence regarding from where the rubbish involved came. Having one or two people doing this work is not enough. Greater resources need to be provided to our local authorities in order to ensure that they have the manpower to deal with this problem.

Yesterday the Minister stated, "The Government is creating a legal onus, or a biodiversity duty, on public bodies to have regard to policies, guidelines and objectives to promote the conservation of biodiversity and the national biodiversity action plan." I would welcome further information on this legislation, when it will be introduced and on how it aligns with Ireland’s obligations under EU and international law.

As I mentioned previously, the climate crisis is fundamentally linked to biodiversity loss. The cross-party report of the Joint Committee on Climate Action includes several recommendations which would help to reduce emissions and encourage a sustainable approach to agriculture, forestry and peatlands. The Government has committed to: the preparation of a national land-use plan; that new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, payments post-2020 will be made available for activities which supports ecosystems and carbon storage, with a focus on planting of native trees; a new integrated plan with targets for the restoration, rehabilitation and re-wetting of peatlands, as well as a new national hedgerow conservation strategy; and a review of current national forestry strategy in order to ensure policy properly supports native trees and biodiversity-rich woodlands. The Government must deliver on each of these recommendations, including associated timelines, in the all-of-Government climate plan due in June. The science demands measurable progress and not living documents. Perhaps it is not the most exciting of messages for the Government to have to sell but it is vital that we can track implementation across Departments and relevant public bodies.

I would like to read into the record the conclusion of the Living Planet Report 2018, which states, "We are the first generation that has a clear picture of the value of nature and the enormous impact we have on it. We may be the last that can act to reverse this trend”.

To say that biodiversity has not been a priority for Fine Gael in government would be a gross understatement. The Government must end the empty rhetoric on sustainability. No one, particularly the younger citizens, buys it. The Government has an opportunity to take the initiative and step in the right direction by immediately responding to the global assessment report, and reflect in full the Oireachtas committee's recommendations on biodiversity in its new climate plan. These must also feed into current departmental planning and strategies, including in agriculture, forestry and peatlands, and must also inform investment decisions in budget 2020.

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