Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Lahart and Crowe for bringing this matter before the Dáil. Their colleague, Deputy Colm Brophy, has also raised the issue with me. I was disappointed to hear of the incident that occurred in Sean Walsh Memorial Park in Tallaght recently as any loss of biodiversity is regrettable. Deputy Lahart mentioned that the local authority issued a statement to the press and published it on its website, giving details of what occurred. As I mentioned to his party leader yesterday on the Order of Business, my Department is investigating the matter. We have been in touch with the heritage officer for South Dublin County Council, its chief executive and the director of environmental services. We have requested a report on the matter from them. Officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, of my Department are arranging a visit to the area together with the heritage officer from South Dublin County Council. Following that site visit, I expect to receive a report from them for review. We should not be prejudicial or premature in establishing facts until we see the report in detail. We will then take any required further action arising from those findings.

As the Minister with responsibility for the protection and conservation of Ireland's natural heritage and biodiversity at a national and governmental level, I am very aware that we are losing biodiversity around the globe at a rate unprecedented in human history. The number of plants, insects, mammals and birds that are threatened or endangered is increasing every year. The land, ocean and atmosphere are being altered to an unparalleled degree. The Government is responding to the biodiversity emergency and the drivers of its loss and is making progress. My Department is working hard and achieving real and substantial results on a number of fronts, with the NPWS leading this work.

We have committed in Project Ireland 2040 to investing €60 million to protect Ireland's natural heritage and biodiversity. We are now on our third national biodiversity action plan. This speaks to the long-running commitment that this Government attaches to this matter. The current plan runs from 2017 to 2021 and is the key national overarching policy for our work. It sets out actions that a range of government, civil and private sectors will undertake to achieve Ireland's vision for biodiversity, which is that "biodiversity and ecosystems in Ireland are conserved and restored, delivering benefits essential for all sectors of society and that Ireland contributes to efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems in the EU and globally".

My Department is engaged in consultations with all Departments, agencies and state owned companies, as well as farmers, landowners, other sectors and non-governmental organisations, NGOs, to set out our priorities for action between 2021 and 2027. We will focus on the habitats and species protected under EU directives, special areas of conservation and the special protection areas designated under those directives.

We have also undertaken a comprehensive range of meaningful and productive actions in recent years. For example, we have secured approximately 17% of the terrestrial area of Ireland within the protected area network. We will continue to increase the areas under protection. We have invested a significant €50 million since 2011 on a major conservation and restoration effort for our raised bogs. I can make the rest of the reply available if the Members so wish.

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