Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the House on biodiversity during National Biodiversity Week. I have spoken previously about hearing, back in 2021, what was a very poignant programme on the BBC World Service, which will have been heard by other insomniacs who tune into the radio late at night. On that programme, a really haunting recording of the song of the ivory-billed woodpecker was played. It was haunting because at that point it was thought that this was a bird that had become extinct and that from now on, it was only going to be possible to hear its song as a recording. This bird had been widespread in the south eastern US and elsewhere. We have had some good news in recent weeks, with reports that this bird has now been seen again in some parts of the US. However, the very tragic threat of extinction faces so many species. In Ireland, the iconic song of the corncrake is no longer widely heard.

A paper published this week by researchers in Queen’s University, Belfast, finds that half of species on Earth are currently undergoing population decline. Furthermore, 33% of species currently considered safe by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature are, in fact, declining towards risk of extinction. This is driven by human behaviour. We know it is the result of human activity. It speaks to the arrogance of humankind that often we do not think of ourselves as living in an ecosystem, but as separate from the natural world. Of course, that is not the case. We rely on flora and fauna for our food, our way of life and our sanitation.

We know that ecological breakdown will have catastrophic effects for us and for other species too. That is why it is so important for the Government to urgently adopt the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. I pay tribute to all the participants and to the Chair of the Assembly, Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin. I am happy to back the call of the environmental pillar, a national environmental umbrella group, for an Oireachtas committee with all-party membership to consider the report of the citizens’ assembly, to make recommendations as to its implementation and to devise an action plan. This committee must be adequately resourced to bring in expert advisers and to move swiftly forward to ensure that we see concerted, cross-party consensus on action on biodiversity. I had the privilege of chairing the Joint Committee on Gender Equality last year. That committee showed how we can bring forward an action plan based on recommendations of citizen's assemblies. It is that sort of thoughtful process that is required for complicated and multifaceted issues like gender equality and biodiversity loss.

It is long past time that we started to view the success of our economy and our society as intrinsically linked with actions to tackle biodiversity loss. Discussions of environmental policy are often lacking consideration of biodiversity and we need to ensure more joined-up thinking on economic development, environmental sustainability and biodiversity. We need to see the sort of combined approach to the economy that President Michael D. Higgins spoke about recently when he talked about the need to bring together considerations of economy, ethics and ecology when we are talking about growth.

Returning to the Citizen's Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, when I saw the assembly's recommendations, I submitted parliamentary questions to each Department seeking to discover their plans to implement those recommendations which relate to their Departments. I wanted to ascertain whether there was concerted and joined-up thinking on the issue. A notable trend within the replies I received was a lack of preparedness to take on those recommendations. This really highlights the need for greater coordination across Government on biodiversity. Is the Minister satisfied that adequate action is being taken to implement the recommendations of the citizens’ assembly or even to see how they can be implemented? How does he propose to secure that implementation?

In the short time remaining, I want to speak on two other issues related to biodiversity, the first of which is forestry. It is not long ago since the Save our Forests - Save our Lands coalition, which the Labour Party is glad to support, gathered outside Leinster House to voice their outrage at the deal involving Coillte and Gresham House, which facilitated the putting of public money into the wallets of private investors and vulture funds. That development really highlighted what needs to change on forestry. The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss was clear that State-owned woodlands should be managed as a strategic, long-term national asset for the common good. Yet, as we all know, Ireland's ancient native forests have been devastated by years of unsustainable mismanagement. The Government is now meeting just one quarter of its own afforestation targets and the licensing system is in disarray. I would be grateful to hear from the Minister what he thinks will transpire as a result of the Gresham House deal in the context of the citizen's assembly recommendations.

I want to talk about an issue relating to biodiversity in my constituency. It is close to my own heart. I have been pressing for some time now on the need to legislate for the creation of a statutory Dublin Bay authority to ensure that we have co-ordinated plan for the preservation and conservation of this great natural amenity on our doorstep. We know that pollution is a huge issue for this valuable amenity. It affects those of us who swim in the sea regularly, with outflows of sewage, but it also has a hugely detrimental impact on our marine life. Dublin Bay is a habitat for sea rocket, couch grass, sea lavender, brent geese, grey herons, seals and so many other types of plant and animal. Some mechanism to ensure greater co-ordination and joined-up thinking in order to protect marine biodiversity is essential.

I was glad to receive cross-party support for the Dublin Bay Bill, which I introduced in this House in December, but the clock is ticking. I am anxious that the Minister and the Minister of State would take the initiative on this, as promised, before the end of this Government's mandate. It is vitally important. We need a statutory agency with democratic governance and really effective powers to intervene to protect our bay. That need has actually become more urgent since the publication of Dublin Port's plans, which I know the Minister has been very critical of, and rightly so. Dublin Port has a particular plan for the future of Dublin Bay that relates to the commercial interests of the port but we need to see a broader public interest coming into focus here to ensure protection of the biodiversity in the bay.

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