Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on these statements on progress concerning the NPWS. This organisation has required dramatic structural change. An attempt is being made to do this, but it is a shame this is happening at a time when the world is burning and we are at crisis levels in respect of biodiversity loss. We are playing catch-up to get our own battalions in order and ready to fight this multiplicity of crises.

The biodiversity and climate crises are interlinked. What binds and is common to both is that they are made and exacerbated by humans. The response from our State needs to be well structured and resourced to fight these crises where they exist. The changes made and in the process of being made are long overdue and welcome, but we must start seeing them in action. I know the Minister of State has set out several actions that are happening all over the country.

I would like to bring to his attention a few others. One of the recommendations that emerged from the citizens' assembly was about working with other public bodies. I am thinking of Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI. Its representatives are in here today appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts. They will not be talking about the health of our rivers and riverbanks or about water quality, but about the leasing of properties in Mayo and uninsured cars. This is another controversy concerning a State agency. It is deeply unfortunate because our rivers are the lifeblood, the veins, of biodiversity throughout our country.

There have been moments of optimism in respect of river water quality in recent years. Unfortunately, these have been lost. In 2011, the River Tolka in Dublin welcomed, for the first time in more than 100 years, the return of Atlantic salmon. For a brief moment, we had the Liffey, the Tolka and the Dodder all welcoming Atlantic salmon. That window, unfortunately, has been lost. The vulnerability of the River Tolka, especially, to pollution and fish kills has seen it struck in this way several times, most dramatically in 2018. We have had this window of opportunity. If we can get a healthy salmon and trout population to live in a river, this is the best measure of its health and water quality.

We need to be examining the water of our rivers in cities. These are the biodiversity corridors in our urban areas. There is such an appreciation and understanding of this aspect, especially from younger people. We have all experienced over the last several years how close to the political hearts of young people these issues of climate and biodiversity are. I represent a constituency that is urban, rural and coastal. What binds young people together is where they see nature being made stronger and an opportunity to improve biodiversity. They will gravitate towards such efforts and will want to support them. They will want the rivers to be healthy and strong. We are not, though, seeing this co-ordinated work being done between State agencies to the level we should. Much of the work of IFI, which does great work on the ground in monitoring fish stocks and water quality, involves efforts to enforce laws concerning illegal fishing and these kinds of things. We need to see more resources being directed to support the good work that is being done by IFI.

On the NPWS as well, regarding coastal erosion, we are still waiting for the report on the coastal change management strategy. It has been three years since this process was launched and we still have not seen it published. More importantly, we have not seen the actions that need to be put in place. We need to see the restoration of our dunes. This is needed in my constituency and up and down the entire east coast. Very dramatically, it is needed in Portrane. In that case, the NPWS was hindering work being undertaken to protect the dunes because it was protecting terns nesting on the flatlands and sands at the upper end of the beach.

What has happened, unfortunately, is that we have lost everything there. If we had worked to protect the dunes and keep the ecosystem in place it would have had the knock-on effect of ensuring that the nesting sites for the terns were protected. Unfortunately, now everyone is a loser: nature is a loser, the communities in the area are losers, and we are seeing dune loss on Portmarnock Beach, which is being exacerbated by human activity. The measures being put in place, quite frankly, are pretty rinky-dink in that a rope is tied to a couple of stakes and people are encouraged not to run up and down the dunes. We need stronger measures. This is why we need an NPWS that works and is on the ground delivering habitat protection and guarding against biodiversity loss.

I will say a few words on the nature restoration law coming from the EU. We need to see that law passed. We need to see Ireland supporting it with a full throat. The law is not even as ambitious of some of the Government's actual climate targets. We need to see that delivered. We have seen it attacked at EU level and negative commentary about it. It is fundamentally about the return of natural habitats on the land, in the sea and in rivers. This should not be subject to debate. We should be energised across this House. I agree with the Minister of State that last night's vote was encouraging, but we need to see it carry through. We cannot have what we saw in the EU committees gravitate into this Chamber. If the EU restoration law is enacted, we will need a strong NPWS in order to make it work. As the Minister of State outlined in his opening statement, this is probably the most important challenge we face.

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