Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on the funding secured and on the implementation plan relating to this report. The report is a credit to them, their advisers and the Department. Yesterday, I was struck by Deputy Whitmore's comment to the effect that the NPWS has moved around seven different locations. At least it now has a permanent home and can lay down roots.

The original report should be required reading for everyone, not just in the context of the NPWS. It highlighted dysfunction within that service, but it should be applied to every organisation. Every State body could do with a similar report. We had the pleasure of having the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, with us in County Mayo last Friday. He launched National Biodiversity Week at Enniscoe House just outside Crossmolina. We got to see the NPWS staff in County Mayo in action there. They do superb work. They are absolutely dedicated to their work and are pragmatic in dealing with the challenges. The Minister of State got to see all that first-hand.

I will put on record once again my concerns around the naming issue at Wild Nephin National Park. Ballycroy should be part of the name. For example, it could be Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park. That is a local demand. The NPWS has chosen to ignore it. That is not the way to build up alliances. It may seem small but this is a national park where, as in most cases, the land was given by local landowners in view of the challenge that is faced and in view of the principles of nature. There should be a much better system. National parks are referred to in the report. Nearly 14% of our national territory is designated for nature conservation and 90% of that is privately owned. That points to a need for better communication and co-operation with landowners and farm organisations. I do not think it is particularly well dealt with in the report.

There is a need for a better sense of understanding and partnership regarding Natura. Some 25 years later, the special areas of conservation and all the regulations relating to them, the designations and the Natura 2000 network continue to be very challenging for local communities. On the ongoing day-to-day management of special areas of conservation and Natura 2000 sites, the 2019 EPA report suggested that 85% of our protected habitats were in unfavourable condition. Considering that the special areas of conservation and Natura legislation has been with us for so many years, we have to look in on what is being done in the day-to-day management of this land. Landowners are making significant sacrifices, particularly small farmers in the hill communities, yet the biodiversity of the land they have sacrificed and that they are not farming commercially is deteriorating. We must look to the ongoing policy of managing the land and how it is being controlled.

I mentioned the area of Wild Nephin National Park at Ballycroy. The NPWS is to be really congratulated on the way it is developing that park out of the box. The Mayo Dark Skies initiative is led by a voluntary committee based out of Newport. The NPWS has developed it in partnership with the local community. The dark skies initiative is gathering great steam and shows to people the value of biodiversity and of protecting our lands. It gives people a very innovative way of accessing and engaging in it. That is what we need to see more of. I join colleagues in commending all the various bodies such as Tidy Towns, Ballina Community Clean-up and other community clean-ups that have put biodiversity back at the heart of community agendas. There is also a role for the NPWS there. It is all very well to put an education officer into each of the national parks. There are only seven of those. We need far greater involvement and far better co-ordination and support for the many volunteer efforts that are around. The NPWS could gain from doing that and, equally, the various communities could gain.

I reiterate my congratulations to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister on this work. Money does not answer all the problems, however, particularly when it comes to public service. The outcomes need to be tracked. We have thrown money at many situations and not got the desired outcomes. I urge the Ministers not to let that happen here.

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