Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim ag roinnt mo chuid ama leis na Teachtaí Mairéad Farrell agus Darren O'Rourke. The Minister's opening statement and in particular the programmes of her Department are laudable. If is often very difficult to find any fault with what is contained within them. The fault is usually inaction and not just in terms of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht but in regard to many other plans that are put before us in that timeframes, targets and so on are never complied with or often do not exist. When we talk here about sustainable development and biodiversity often the words do not reflect the urgency required or the funding required to reverse the damage that we have done in recent times to the sustainability of our island.

Over the past number of years, I have raised with the Minister and her Department a number of issues on which I do not believe we have moved as quickly as we should have, including the pollinators' campaign. It is laudable that local authorities have taken this on but more needs to be done in terms of ensuring bees, the red squirrel, curlew and other species that are endangered in our countryside can start to thrive again. There is always a conflict or, at least, a clash between development and wildlife as we try to get more out of the land. We have seen the consequences of this in terms of our hedgerows throughout the country. Farmers need to be able to earn a living from the land. The policies of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which force them to try to extract more from the land, have endangered the sustainability of that very agriculture or the sustainability of our biodiversity.

My criticism is directed not at the Minister but at the Department as it has existed for the past number of years. Taking the example of New Zealand, in its last budget, €1.1 billion was provided to preserve and conserve its biodiversity, thus creating 11,000 new jobs to try to ensure that as a society it will benefit into the future. This presented no threat to its agriculture. Many of the policies provided for within the €1.1 billion enhanced agriculture to ensure that it and wildlife could live side-by-side or benefit from each other in many ways. I would like the Minister to outline how many of the new jobs that have been created in the wildlife or heritage services were created in the last year and if all of the local authorities now have a designated heritage officer to ensure this aspect is delivered. How much has been spent on the removal of noxious weeds and alien species in comparison to the damage they are doing in many of our wildlife parks and also in our urban centres?

The Minister spoke about our role in protecting our architectural and historical built environment. On Moore Street, when will the State move to protect the walkways of history that is Moore Street and its environs? The committee, of which I was a member, submitted its report to the Minister last July but no additional action has been taken since then to protect and preserve that aspect of Moore Street. I have previously raised with the Minister the issue of funding for local museums and heritage centres to ensure they can put their collections online. How much of that funding has been drawn down or has money been set aside to allow them to do that work?

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