Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Connolly and all the other Deputies for their contributions on the review and strategic action plan for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This is a €55 million plan that fulfils an important commitment in the programme for Government and it will be a very positive result for Irish nature.

I want to turn to some of the contributions. Deputy Whitmore’s love of nature and biodiversity shines through in many conversations I have had with her in the House and in committee. She mentioned wildlife crime and is concerned about its staffing in the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

There are 110 staff, including district conservation officers and conservation rangers, who are located across the country and who lead on the enforcement of wildlife laws and on bringing prosecutions. There is also provision for an additional 33 conservation rangers and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, hopes to fill these places as soon as possible. These regional staff are supported by a central team across a regulatory and licensing unit in a hub-and-spoke model. Therefore, one can add another couple of zeros to the one staff member in wildlife crime enforcement who Deputy Whitmore mentioned.

The Deputy also referred to regulations for the protection of the basking shark. On this specific issue, I can confirm that the draft regulations have been submitted to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, and that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is hoping that this process will complete as quickly as possible.

Deputy Tóibín spoke passionately about nature. The Deputy asked that a Minister should visit the rewilding project at Dunsany. In fact, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has already visited Dunsany and had some fascinating conversations about the approach that is being taken there.

The programme for Government committed us to reviewing the remit, status and funding of the NPWS. That independent, multiphase review was completed in February 2022. It culminated in 15 key recommendations to renew the NPWS and make it a more resilient and more effective organisation fit to meet the challenges of this century. The strategic action plan, approved by the Government on Tuesday, 3 May, is designed to deliver on those recommendations and its implementation is a key priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and all my colleagues across the Government.

I acknowledge the hard work of the independent authors who undertook the research and analysis and made the recommendations that underpin the strategic action plan. Professor Jane Stout chaired the first phase of the review, which comprised a comprehensive consultation with external stakeholders, staff and the public, an examination of the challenges and struggles the organisation is grappling with and an identification of some of the gaps that may be inhibiting the NPWS from delivering effectively on its mandate. The former Secretary General, Mr. Gerry Kearney, conducted the final phases of the review and brought it to completion by drawing all of the information together to make comprehensive and expert recommendations on the appropriate organisational structure for the NPWS and to provide an in-depth analysis of its governance, resourcing, communications and systems. Mr. Kearney's work also reflects the significant resourcing gains and organisational changes in recent years, and sets out a clear pathway to build on these positive developments and ensure the NPWS is fit for purpose and can deliver on its core mandate in the coming years and decades.

In summary, the independent review concludes that a substantial renewal and internal restructuring of the NPWS is required. Fifteen specific recommendations are made, which form the basis for the action plan. The review concludes that a substantial renewal and internal restructuring of the NPWS is now required. I will briefly go through these 15 recommendations, which form the basis of the action plan.

Starting with improving the governance, the review recommends establishing the NPWS as an executive agency within the Government that will secure a dedicated top management team, distinct mission statement, priorities and resources for the NPWS, while maintaining close direct reporting and accountability links to the Department, the Minister and the Government, as well as eliminating duplication by capitalising on efficiencies in terms of access to departmental corporate service, expertise and supports.

The review recommends a restructure of the NPWS. This is a change to the structure in order that its internal structure reflects the functions that it is meant to carry out, and, of course, those have changed over time. The main functions of the restructured NPWS will be conservation and protection; scientific advice and research; parks and reserves; engagement, corporate and specialist supports; and legislation, licensing and regulation.

The review also recommends reconfiguring the top management team within the restructured NPWS and assigning that team to develop, as an urgent and immediate priority, a dedicated organisational strategy statement. In addition, the review recommends establishing permanent standing committees, on a cross-functional basis across the new directorates, to address long-standing, multifaceted, complex matters.

The review also looked at the people who are involved in the NPWS. It recommends a fundamentally overhaul HR capability and practice within the NPWS. The HR function for the NPWS should rest with a dedicated person. Recruitment to NPWS specialist and industrial roles should be overhauled and standardised, the use of temporary contracts over long periods should end and advertised roles should be graded correctly in order that candidates within an appropriate band in terms of skill set and level of experience are encouraged to apply. There also will be appropriate career structures developed for industrial staff.

The review suggests setting up an expert group, drawing on international expertise in organisations with a similar remit to the NPWS, to establish the human resourcing requirements of the NPWS on an international, best-practice basis.

The review advises bringing forward legislation to provide updated and stronger statutory underpinnings for the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The review addresses the communications. It is important that any organisation can clearly communicate with the public and with the rest of the Government. The review recommends that external communications by the NPWS should be professionalised and should prioritise a vigorous and timely engagement with social and other media.

The review recommends putting in place a new, renewed and improved programme of engagement, awareness and education by the NPWS as part of a wider strategy to present an authoritative, credible and compelling voice for nature in the State.

The information and communications technology, ICT, function has to be reformed. The chief information officer, CIO, office in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has brought forward a four-stage process and pathway to transform ICT within the NPWS over the next three years.

The review also looks at biodiversity and climate agencies and, because there are a number of these, how do they interact with the NPWS. There are recommendations in that regard, and on how the NPWS should engage with other public bodies of a broader nature outside of this sector to help ensure that each is playing its own part and according to its remit and responsibilities.

The review recommends recruiting a number of key posts in the NPWS immediately, additional to the filling of current vacancies, where these are needed to mitigate critical risks in the interests of the State.

The review recommends the grading of technical and regional posts by reference to comparable posts across the Irish public service. Following on the findings of the benchmarking of the staffing of the NPWS by reference to international comparators, the grading of technical and regional posts should be assessed by reference to similar in the Irish public service.

Lastly, the review recommends establishing a new engagement, corporate and specialist supports directorate. This will create a resilient corporate spine for the NPWS, which can efficiently interface with the corporate function of the Department, thereby improving critical internal services in relation to HR, information technology, IT, procurement etc., leading out on better engagement with external stakeholders, as well as equipping the NPWS of the future to cope better with departmental changes.

The NPWS has a proud history and, despite being a relatively small organisation of some 400 people, carries a complex range of responsibilities ranging from significant policy and advisory functions to operational responsibilities in the national parks, conservation, enforcement, licensing, biodiversity and being a statutory consultee on planning.

The organisation has been sustained through many years by a truly dedicated and expert team of people. For them too, the plan will provide the momentum to build on the significant gains we have been able to secure for the organisation in the past two budgets, bringing its funding this year, for the first time since the financial crisis, back to pre-2008 levels.

With the implementation of the strategic action plan, the future of the NPWS now looks bright. Given the times we are in, we will need the NPWS to be strong, resilient, accountable, fit for purpose and able to look forward. The renewal programme in the action plan, the significantly increased investment and the immediate recruitment to critical posts all demonstrate beyond doubt the Government's strong commitment to our natural heritage, to biodiversity, and to the NPWS as an organisation.

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