Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The plans the Minister of State has announced in the strategic plan for the NPWS are to be welcomed insofar as they constitute a commitment to expanding funding and service as the need for an agency that is fit to play its part in our collective response to the biodiversity emergency, as the Minister of State has put it. The establishment of the new directorates within the NPWS is welcome because we need less of a fragmented approach to biodiversity in order that the different sectors have a focus that is dedicated to them. This structure needs to ensure that the wider sectorial commitments we have made as a country can be more seamlessly be monitored and implemented in a manner that takes into account our core priorities and the needs of those who face the challenges of implementing actions that cut across all State sectors.

Recommendation 11 refers to ensuring that there is clarity regarding where responsibilities lie, whether there is ambiguity, duplication or overlap and, most importantly, where gaps exist in order that they are addressed coherently. I want to focus on this for a moment because during my time on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I have noticed that multiple agencies are involved. Mixed messages can be coming from each one on a common matter. This level of disconnect between State agencies can have an adverse effect on the implementation of the policy in question.

It can cause or add discontent among those who are effected by these policies or responsible for implementing them in the course of their daily work. If the biodiversity and climate crises are to be effectively addressed, then those on whom the workload will ultimately fall will have to be informed properly. They will need to be listened to properly and the manner in which the mitigation measures are rolled out must be thought out properly. We and our environment cannot afford constant uncertainty which leads to wasted time and a poor response to the message. I welcome recommendation 11 and I hope it will be acted upon, not just by NPWS but also by the various Departments.

I also note the reference to ending the use of temporary contracts over long periods. Full appreciation and use of people with desirable skill sets are a key component of a properly functioning service that makes full use of the knowledge that comes with these dedicated people. We see in the health sector how services can get disrupted because professionals who have worked and studied hard to get their qualifications and then asked to work for returns that take no account of their value or the knowledge they have gained.

I will speak in general about our carbon sequestration targets. Nobody will be surprised to hear that we have a forestry sector that has been left to wither over the years. There is still considerable dissatisfaction out there in terms of the licensing process and the various schemes. This has led to the sector to consider itself virtually disregarded and, yet, it is the very sector that has a considerable role to play in absorbing and storing carbon. The target for the afforestation of more than 8,000 ha right now is mere ambition. It does not become reality because the sector has been ignored for so long.

When we consider the values of the NPWS, we also need to think of our foresters who watch the deliberations of the various focus groups that have been giving consideration to their future. However, the reality of the situation for them has not changed. There are planning issues, of which the Minister of State must be aware, which are slowing down the progress the sector could be making. I am aware of a plantation in County Tipperary which is ravaged by ash dieback. The application for a reconstitution and under-planting scheme to assist foresters to deal with infected plantations was subject to the usual considerable delays. It then had to apply to the local authority for planning permission to replant with conifers. This forester faces years of work and investment being wiped out.

That operator was confronted with a challenge that was not just a disease. It was in dealing with the forestry service, the Department and the requirements of the local authority. The process is onerous and off-putting. It delays our 8,000 ha afforestation target and the carbon that would be absorbed if the structures were working right. If people who are working in areas of the economy that have a great contribution to make to biodiversity are faced with a slow, complicated and demanding bureaucracy, our chances of success in terms of all the targets are reduced. I thank the Minister of State for his time today and for listening. I hope some of the aspirations expressed for the NPWS are replicated in all sectors.

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