Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to have this discussion. First, I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State and of the Department on biodiversity. Compared to previous Governments and previous Ministers, the Minister of State has really tried to grab this issue and make substantive changes. The reform of the national parks is one of those changes. The staff of the national parks are all there because they are dedicated to and passionate about biodiversity. Sometimes the structures or lack of resources get in the way of them and in the way of that entity fulfilling its true mandate and its true potential. I hope these reforms will enable that to happen.

I agree with the Minister of State about slowness. We just do not have the time or the luxury of time anymore. Sometimes I feel like we are just running to stand still with regard to this. There was a report from University College Cork, UCC, today stating that a number of our rare native plants will become extinct because of climate change. We are also now seeing the impact of climate change on our already embattled biodiversity. That is just going to exacerbate all the issues we have with biodiversity. That study also said that there will be an increase in invasive species, such as non-native deer.

I will talk about that later because it is something we really need to come to terms with.

The Minister of State spoke of the amount of funding his Department has provided. It has increased from €28 million to €53 million. That is a significant increase but is coming from a very low bar. I came across some interesting statistics last night. A CSO report last year identified that €4.8 billion in environmental taxes was taken in by the State in 2021, yet only €53 million is being directed towards nature and biodiversity. There is a large gap there that needs to be addressed because we will need funding and resources in order to address this issue.

On the speed at which these matters are dealt with, there are a number of things the Department could do immediately. I understand many of the reforms take time. Much of the work takes consultation and time to be done properly and to have robust systems in place but a number of things could be done and I ask that the Minister of State direct some focus to them. He spoke of the rhododendron battle in Killarney National Park. We have seen how devastating that has been not only for Killarney but across many areas. The Minister of State could ban the sale of that species of rhododendron and the subspecies from garden centres because it makes no sense that the State is putting huge resources into protecting our wildlife from this invasive species at the same time as any gardener can go out and purchase the same plant. There are a number of plants in the same boat. We need to get in before they become the next rhododendron issue. Will the Minister of State look at banning rhododendron or working with garden centres to raise awareness? I believe that gardeners would choose not to plant it in their gardens if they understood what it could mean for neighbouring environments.

In a biodiversity crisis in which our bird populations are plummeting, it is extraordinary the Minister of State is signing off on licences to shoot and hunt red-listed birds. I ask that he consider stopping that. It makes no sense in the ecological climate we are in. It is similar with the hare, an issue I addressed last night in the Dáil. The Minister of State needs to stop issuing those licences. I have presented him with a legal argument as to why that needs to stop for the upcoming season.

I will refer specifically to our national parks, using Wicklow Mountains National Park as an example. Our national parks do not have management plans. We need such plans in place and at the centre of each plan we need to specify that biodiversity is the key priority for the national parks. It should not be farming, tourism or recreation. Biodiversity has to be the core purpose. The other activities can be part of the plan but biodiversity needs to be prioritised above everything else. I ask that the Minister of State take that into consideration.

I did work in Wicklow recently when I went out with the Pro Silva team. We went to a continuous cover forest and the team explained the concept. It was disturbing to hear from one of the foresters, who is an expert in this area, that not a single native forest in County Wicklow will be there in the future if we continue as we are. None of them are growing. They are in a moribund condition and the reason is the high level of non-native deer impacting on growth. Every time a tree tries to regenerate in those forests, the saplings are gone within days. That is the key difficulty with protecting those sites. The Minister of State is training the NPWS on deer control but it is like trying to fight the tide. There needs to be focus in government on dealing with that species, particularly if we will have increased populations. I ask that greater levels of protection and enforcement be introduced and resourced for the Wicklow Mountains National Park and all national parks, and that invasive species be dealt with. These are our core areas. We need to protect and expand them and connect them with other areas but first we have to protect what is there. I ask the Minister of State to do that.

See this speech in context