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

The Deputy has a good memory. I had a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the German minister on climate change in general. Most of the matters discussed fell under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, but I dealt with the biodiversity aspect. Under the EU Green New Deal, member states must ensure that at least 30% of the EU's land and marine areas are protected by 2030 and that 10% of these are strictly protected. For Ireland, that will mean a doubling of the protected area on land and a trebling of protected marine area. Much of this was discussed at that meeting. We are making good progress on land designations, including national heritage areas, NHAs, special areas of conservation, SACs, and special protection areas, SPAs, as well as any further designations. We are of the view that the changes need to be made in partnership with the owners and users of the affected lands as it must be done in a transparent manner. I know from my experience in this Department that trying to ramrod changes through, particularly in respect of climate change, does not work. That is why we have the just transition. One needs to bring people with one. We had a very positive discussion on those issues.

Ireland is a member state of the EU. Obviously, there must be joined-up thinking. It is interesting to learn how other countries are dealing with the proposals in the strategy. We will continue to do that. As Deputies are aware, biodiversity and nature are crucial to our health and ability to sustain life. We all recognise the urgent need to reverse biodiversity loss. We will attempt to do so by seeking to reverse declines in habitat richness in order to increase biodiversity, as well as managing emerging threats from pollutants and invasive species and expanding national park areas. As I mentioned, we will also implement the third national biodiversity action plan and develop a successor action plan for the period beyond 2021. I am unsure whether the Deputy has read the programme for Government. It contains numerous elements and tasks that could revolutionise the way biodiversity is looked on in this country and improve water quality in lakes, rivers, streams and seas.

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