Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important topic. We have just completed a Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and the general consensus was that while the Government has declared a biodiversity crisis, there is little evidence it is being taken seriously. I welcome the Minister of State's remarks on wildlife crime and An Garda Síochána becoming involved when crimes are committed.

I would like to direct my remarks in a particular direction, towards Emo Court House, County Laois, and to the brown long-eared bats roosting there. It is the neighbouring county to my native county of Kildare. I specifically ask why the recommendation from the NPWS ranger relating to the house was ignored. The Minister of State is well aware that biodiversity and the need to conserve are now lodged firmly in the public mind. My constituents in north Kildare are well aware of our biodiversity crisis. The Minister of State would be surprised by how many people raise it with me when knocking on doors and meeting people, especially the need to protect and preserve it in this current and deepening climate crisis. He can imagine their concern at Ireland being reprimanded last week by the Court of Justice of the European Union for being in breach of the habitats directive. Our situation is as far as it is possible to be from our reputation as a clean, green island where our biodiversity is cherished. In fact, it is being trashed.

This ruling brings even greater urgency to the situation of the bats at Emo Court House. There are several issues here. It was known that the brown long-eared bat was roosting in the basement there in 2006. The OPW hired an ecologist who told that organisation it would need a licence if it was to do any work on the house. The ecologist also told the OPW that any disturbance would be a notifiable action under Irish and EU law. Yet for reasons unknown, the OPW decided the law did not apply to it. The Aire Stáit is in government with Fine Gael, which claims its place as a law-and-order party no less. I am at a loss to understand why the OPW, under a Fine Gael Minister of State, decided the law of the land did not apply to it.

The Minister of State will be aware that in December 2019 the NPWS followed up on a complaint that the OPW had essentially ignored that ecological advice. This was ecological advice that the organisation had paid for using taxpayers' money it had been given. Unbelievably, it had gone ahead with the works and done so without the licence it was told it needed. On foot of this, the OPW was issued with a letter instructing it to cease and desist. Once again, even on receipt of this letter, the OPW decided it was above the law. I say this because, in January 2020, the NPWS inspected the site and found the controversial works that had been ordered to cease had, in fact, continued.

The Minister of State will be aware that this led to an NPWS inspection report. On the back of this report in November 2020, the regional ranger recommended the following:

In light of the evidence that unfolded during my investigation, I recommend that the Office of Public Works is prosecuted under Regulations 51 (2)(b); and 51 2 (d) of the European Communities (Birds & Natural Habitats) Regulations ... for disturbing the breeding and resting place of bats in Emo Court House without a bat derogation licence.

A recommendation that the OPW be prosecuted is a serious matter. This prosecution takes place on foot of the disturbance of such an important breeding and roosting place, a disturbance that took place without a licence. Given the seriousness of this situation, can the Aire Stáit shed some light on why this breach concerning an important species was not and has not been followed up on? Who made the decision not to prosecute? My comrade, Senator Lynn Boylan, has been raising this issue for more than a year and a half. She has been unable to find out this information, despite her best efforts, including submitting freedom of information requests and raising this matter in the Seanad. Will the Minister of State please tell us why the OPW, which is publicly tasked with looking after our heritage, seems to think that the law established to look after our heritage has nothing to do with it?

Given the public concern for our environment and heritage, especially now in light of the EU ruling against us, what sort of message does this send to everyone else to whom this law applies? Why should we expect developers or indeed local authorities to respect the law when the OPW blithely ignores it? Does the Minister of State accept that breaches to the protection of Annex IV species under the habitat directives do not allow for discretion to be applied? These are strict liability matters and, therefore, the NPWS should have initiated proceedings against what was happening at Emo Court House. I do not think the situation there is a one-off incident, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling this week shows us this.

The Minister of State has an opportunity to change the culture and demonstrate that Ireland recognises we are in a biodiversity emergency and we are prepared to act as such. He has said that he wants to see a zero-tolerance approach to wildlife crime. He should start with this case of Emo Court House by ensuring those who willfully disturbed the bat roost there are held accountable. I am again asking the Minister of State to tell us who made the decision not to prosecute in this case. I believe he is an honourable man and I am sure he does not wish to stand alongside this blatant law-breaking on behalf of an arm of the State. I ask him to respond to me in his closing statement. I must leave the Chamber to attend a meeting, but I will try to return or look back over the Minister of State's closing statement. I would very much like him to address this matter because it is extremely important and cannot just be let slide.

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