Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and I welcome the review and restructure of the NPWS. I welcome the €55 million worth of funding that will be put into the service and the announcement of 60 additional staff who will be recruited urgently. I want to thank the Minister of State for that because I know that since he has taken up his position he has put biodiversity front and centre and that is important on this National Biodiversity Week. It is not just this announcement of the review and restructure of the NPWS that was so badly needed; the Minister of State has been front and centre in ensuring that the Government and Cabinet, more than any other Government or Cabinet before, are starting to put biodiversity measures front and centre and in place. We have seen that recently with the establishment of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which will be so important to advising and informing us of how we address loss in biodiversity. We have seen it with the budget allocation of €47 million that the Minister of State fought for in 2022. That is significant when it is considered that the allocation by the main Opposition party, Sinn Féin, in its alternative budget was a measly €5 million. In his first few months in office we saw the establishment of a dedicated wildlife crime investigation unit, which will be staffed with the recruitment of this extra staff, and we have seen a 300% increase in the local biodiversity action fund, which will make a huge difference on the ground, particularly with the Tidy Towns committees and their approach to how they look after their towns and villages.

We have seen the recent announcements that legislation is being brought forward to give basking sharks protected species status. There is a range and list of measures that the Government has put in place that make me confident that we will see a turning of the tide of biodiversity loss. As the Minister of State well knows and as he alluded to, we cannot sit on our hands and rest on our laurels with those successes and the measures we have put in place. There is so much more to do. For example, we have seen the success of some targeted conservation measures, and the Minister of State has been touring the country to see some of them. We have seen the Corncrake LIFE project, which has seen the number of corncrakes in Ireland bounce back and go up, which is a success. We have seen the Hen Harrier project. The hen harrier was on the brink of extinction in Ireland but with the co-operation of farmers, we have introduced a results-based payment for them, we have seen hen harrier numbers start to increase for the first time. These targeted measures work but we need more of them and we need more widespread targeted measures for more species so that we can see more species have better outcomes. The Minister of State mentioned the curlew and there are other wading birds like the redshank and the kestrel, a bird of prey the numbers of which are decreasing rapidly. We also have seabirds that are under severe pressure, including the puffin and the kittiwake. We need targeted measures to ensure these species survive and bounce back.

Then there are those species that are quietly disappearing from our countryside, including farmland birds like the yellowhammer, which we do not hear much about. We hear about the curlew and the corncrake but birds like the yellowhammer will meet the same fate as a similar farm bird, the corn bunting, which is now extinct as a breeding species in Ireland. We need to once again roll out those targeted measures across the board. It is not just targeted measures that will work. The overall approach and strategy have to be right as well and that is where the upcoming agri-environment scheme, which is due to commence in 2023, will have to play an important role. I know it is a priority for the Minister of State but I ask him to also liaise with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to ensure that, similar to those targeted measures I spoke about earlier, this is results-based and has proper outcomes for wildlife across Ireland. Farmers should be rewarded and paid for putting wetland on their farm holdings or for planting trees and hedgerows so that we see better outcomes for wildlife, which is so important.

We also need to see the roll-out of those marine protected areas, MPAs. That would not only benefit those seabirds that I spoke about earlier but it would also benefit the incredible cetaceans, including whales and dolphins, that we are lucky enough to get in Ireland. As I have consistently said, Ireland is a world-class location for whale watching but we need to ensure that those whales and dolphins keep coming to our coast to feed and the only way we can do that is by protecting fish stocks and by allocating and setting up those marine protected areas. That is vitally important. I must mention the National Biodiversity Data Centre and that must see an increase in its funding, remit and resources so that it can collect data. Data are key to protecting wildlife in Ireland.

I will return to the NPWS and the announcement of the €55 million investment and the 60 extra staff, which is so important. That will allow this organisation to restructure itself and to do what it needs to be doing, namely, reacting to wildlife crime at a much faster pace and ensuring that there are prosecutions when it comes to same. It must react to the loss of habitat and ensure that it does not only react to the loss of habitat but is actively engaged and involved in setting up a nature reserve and in improving habitat and biodiversity right across Ireland. In order to do that it needs investment and recruitment but that is not all that is needed. Being an NPWS ranger, ecologist or scientist need to be valid career paths and that is something we need to get into our schools so that when students are meeting their career guidance counsellors and say they want to pursue a future in biodiversity or ecology, they are not just told to go away and do law or medicine but that they see it as a viable career path, which is important.

I want to thank the Minister of State again personally. I mention Clogheen Marsh, which is a marsh area near my home town of Clonakilty. The Minister of State has visited the marsh, which I am grateful for. About 20 years ago a group of birdwatchers had a dream of turning this marsh into a nature reserve. Time and again they were met with closed doors and obstacles and their efforts failed. I must thank the Minister of State personally for the fact that for the first time, they are starting to see progress. We have seen funding sanctioned by the Minister of State for a year-long biodiversity survey on the site to inform how we go about this and we have seen funding for a feasibility study for the establishment of a visitor centre. For the first time, this group of birdwatchers sees light at the end of the tunnel. We will have a world-class nature reserve at Clogheen Marsh near Clonakilty and I want to thank the Minister of State for that. Well done.

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