I want to use this opportunity to say that we were delighted with the additional intake of rangers this year. We had initially proposed an intake of 20 rangers and there was an initial ten in that. Thanks to the work of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, we were able to up that figure to 60, which is badly needed. Boots on the ground are what we need across the country if we are to tackle the biodiversity crisis.

From visiting our national parks in recent weeks, I want to pay tribute to our conservation rangers and staff in the NPWS across the country. They have done an incredible job throughout the Covid pandemic. Our national parks and nature reserves were open in order to provide refuge and solace to people throughout what has been an incredibly difficult 15 or 16 months. They had to reconfigure our spaces and introduce different systems to manage social distancing. The huge numbers who attended and visited our parks are testament to the great work that has been done by our staff. I was in Connemara last week to see the fantastic work that was done there and the Minister and I were in Killarney National Park following the fires. I pay tribute to our staff on the ground there who managed that difficult situation so well.

We know we are in a biodiversity emergency and that the additional rangers we will take on in the coming months will provide a valuable service, including in the area of west Waterford, which Deputy Ó Cathasaigh has raised. We have a major job of work to do and I am confident that with the additional resources provided through budget 2021 for the NPWS; we will be in a better place where we can meet those demands and manage our national parks in a way that is a safe and happy experience for visitors but that is also good for nature and biodiversity. We are grateful to the organisations throughout the country that partner with our national parks to make them as good an experience for people as possible and to make them safe refuges for nature as well.

See this item in context