Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The public spending code is being revised, restructured and simplified. The infrastructure guidelines are being updated since they were last issued in 2019, the ones that relate to the shadow price of carbon. I think the Deputy is alluding to the shadow price of nature as well. Biodiversity has a value. That probably would have been a strange thing to say ten years ago but people understand now that nature is worth something, including in terms of our quality of life. If you have an economic project involving the destruction of some of our natural heritage, you have to work that into the plan and decide if it is worth it. It is not something you get for free. It is valuable to society. Everybody in Ireland puts a high value on nature and on access to forests, lakes, bogs and so on. It is a good point the Deputy raises and the value of biodiversity should be accounted for in the infrastructure guidelines.

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