Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. We have to accept that salt marshes are very impressive at sequestering and storing carbon. Some studies have estimated that, per hectare, a salt marsh can sequester carbon at 40 times the speed of a tropical rainforest.

12 o’clock

Vegetated coastal ecosystems such as our salt marshes currently store huge quantities of carbon and need to be protected and expanded. The Government is not doing enough in this respect. For instance, in a connected area, ecosystems such as Bantry Bay, which support much flora and fauna and biological communities and work as a carbon sink, the precautionary principal should be used. Unfortunately, however, in Bantry Bay, the profit principle is king. The Government has given permission for an industrial project in the bay, which is upsetting people who have an interest in protecting the ecosystem no end. I plead with the Minister to examine this again.

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