Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding the remarks of Deputy Haughey on citizens' assemblies, with which I tentatively agree, the citizens' assembly model has proven its worth over the past number of years. Some of the questions that have been asked, in particular on the social side of things, may not have come about as quickly had we been left to deal with them in these Houses.

That being said, biodiversity is probably one of the key elements on the list of citizens' assemblies outlined in the programme for Government. I am pleased to see it included relatively early following the Covid pandemic. It is necessary to mention that when we declared a biodiversity emergency in 2019, the climate action plan, which was updated just last year, followed shortly thereafter. A committee on which I serve, along with Members of all parties and none, did a huge amount of work on improving legislation around the climate action plan. There is an opportunity for us to take on board the views of the public and expertise that was perhaps not available to the Houses of the Oireachtas during the pre-legislative processes, as well as opportunities for us to take on board international expertise that, again, may not have been available to us.

Therefore, I welcome the opportunity presented by this particular citizens' assembly. Approximately 30% of plant and wildlife species in this country is at extreme risk. Unfortunately, that risk is accelerating at an alarming rate, which must be addressed by the State in terms of what actions we take and what restrictions we impose on certain sectors and industries in order to attempt to stop that dramatic increase in biodiversity loss. We have a particular responsibility to recognise that habitats are not just on land or in rivers but are also in our seas. The greatest example of something like that occurring is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, but we do not have to go too far from these Houses to see biodiversity loss on our seabeds and in our aquatic wildlife that play a significant role in biodiversity and are a major carbon sink for the planet. Approximately 1 million species are at extreme risk across the planet, which I mentioned in terms of the numbers in Ireland. It is important that we learn from initiatives such as the restoration of our bogs and the carbon sink that they provide us with so that when we engage with them further, in particular in the coming decade, we implement best practice, as experienced in the midlands.

Reporting back to us within nine months means that we should deal with this issue in the early part of 2023. There is an opportunity for us collaboratively. Heretofore, at the very start of the citizens' assembly process Oireachtas Members had an input into the process. I was a layperson – a reserve, if you will – in that particular model. I would not rule out the opportunity for a selective group of parliamentarians to participate in that process or to at least be advisers.

Regarding the question of a Dublin mayor being put a citizens' assembly, I very much support the idea behind it, but I come from a local authority that declined the opportunity to have a directly elected mayor on the latest occasion, and that was provided for in legislation. We need to know what powers would be removed from the local authority management system before anything can happen. Like my colleague, I believe there is no point in creating a directly elected mayor if it is simply a talking shop and has no real authority.

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