Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. It is very important, as mentioned by the Minister of State in her answer to me, that we take into account at all times in compiling our national inventory, but also in public commentary on carbon sequestration, how very important it is to our soils, trees and hedgerows. Sometimes that is missed out of the public debate and it also helps to increase biodiversity.

One area on which I tabled questions in the past, I believe to the Department of Transport, was with regard to the potential there is to use large areas of roadside verge for the growing of trees. I am not talking about compromising safety along roads but about using a great deal of public space which could be put to good use in the growing of trees and in increasing biodiversity. If that is done properly, it could be an effective climate change measure and could also play an important part in what we all want to see in biodiversity recovery. This is an area which may not be particular to this question but is one which we should factor in to ensure that we use public spaces as best as possible and that everything in our national inventory is also factored in.

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