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

I thank the Deputy for her comments. I commend Our Lady's secondary school on its efforts in respect of the conservation of the curlew. The recommendations of the report are being strongly considered by the Department. It is broken down into eight main areas: the curlew ecological requirements; farming and agri-environment; forestry; bogs; predation and nest protection; planning and development; curlew and people; and synthesis. The efforts of the curlew conservation programme, particularly in the local teams, in building and maintaining a positive profile for the curlew cannot be overstated. Conflict can often arise between the desires of those involved in conservation and the desires of landowners to manage their land as they see best. The understanding and communication skills, which involve listening as well as talking, of those involved in the programme, have been exemplary. The experience to date has been largely positive, with countless landowners and local people helping with reporting sightings, facilitating access, providing advice and undertaking efforts to help the curlew. This year, we increased the amount in budget 2020 for the heritage sector by 15%. Unfortunately, if we look back to the Fianna Fáil and Green Party budgets of the past, funding to the sector was cut by 75%.

See this speech in context