Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I wish the Minister of State a good morning. I am very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the nature restoration law. I commend my good colleague, Deputy Naughten, and our group administrator Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh, who did the lion's share of the work preparing this motion to be brought to the floor of the Dáil.

The motion is very timely. All we have to do is look at what is happening in the world at the moment. It is clear our environment is in crisis. There is compelling evidence. It is overwhelming. To be fair, we do not even need to go to the empirical evidence as we can just look back at our own lives. I am from farming stock. When I was growing up 40 years ago there were hundreds of bees in the back garden. There were fish in the rivers. There were birds and butterflies. If you went for a drive on a sunny summer's day like this, your windscreen would be totally caked with insects of all shapes and sizes afterwards. We regarded that as an inconvenience at that time. It is amazing how the inconvenience of the past is now almost an objective of present policy. We need to get back to that.

It is very clear there is a biodiversity crisis and we have to intervene at a State level in a very swift and decisive way before it is too late. On that basis, I welcome the principle at least of the nature restoration law. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it an okay start? Yes. It is at least a starting point. I echo what Deputy Naughten said in welcoming the amendments that were tabled. They are very sensible proposals tweaking the targets and ensuring it is a voluntary process rather than a mandatory one, which is very important. That message needs to get out there as well.

That there are commitments both this morning and in the Bill that there will be no impact on CAP payments is very important. I hear and understand Deputy Fitzmaurice's concerns. While there is a commitment for a voluntary process, it is important it is a genuinely voluntary one. That commitment must be honoured in full. The Minister of State made a commitment earlier relating to public land, that we should have enough public land to meet the minimum criteria up to 2040 and perhaps even beyond. We are very fortunate the State has large land banks and holdings around the country. We hope that should allow us to deal with the lion's share of the requirement. That is positive.

However, it is like climbing a mountain. It is a massive challenge. It is very important to look around every so often and see how far we have come. Even before this nature law was passed, or passed by the European Parliament at least, there had been much progress, even in Ireland, especially at the farmyard gate and inside it. We mentioned the environmental schemes. Whether it is ACRES, TAMS or BISS, farmers are totally on board here. There are very good schemes relating to slurry management, run-off into rivers and reducing artificial fertiliser. This is very important stuff and farmers are getting incentivised and rewarded, quite rightly, for the work they are doing.

Aside from the farms, there is great work taking place at a community level. There are Tidy Towns groups, environmentalist groups and people planting flowers and trees. Individually all those isolated projects have limited impact, but collectively they really matter. They are having an effect, especially in my constituency. There is a lot of excellent community work.

With regard to the industry environment out there - I am not sure what are the Minister of State's views on this but I presume they are quite similar to mine - and Bord na Móna in particular, there has been an incredible transition and transformation in Bord na Móna. It has really moved from brown to green, and not only that, it has stayed true to its original mandate. It is still an energy company producing excellent energy for the country but in a far more environmentally responsible and sustainable way. I commend Bord na Móna in particular. A lot of companies talk about innovation these days but Bord na Móna is actually doing the work and the innovating. It goes back to the phrase that one should not try to set the standard; one should be the standard. Bord na Móna deserves a lot of commendation in that regard.

I will focus on our motion. It is straightforward. Like all good motions, it is very simple. I very much welcome this. It is necessary and very timely. The main call from the motion is to develop a plan. We have a two-year window to come up with a nature restoration plan. We have the legislation underpinning it, which is almost through the Council of Ministers. It is good that we have legislation to underpin it but we do need a plan to operationalise it, as the Minister of State well knows. Targets are one thing but it is in the implementation where things fall down. While we have legislation underpinning what we are trying to do, it also needs finance to underwrite it. I am very encouraged this morning to hear that €3.15 billion from 2026 is set aside for it.

Deputy Harkin's contribution was very enlightening. There is no funding at EU level. This is a major drawback and we need to go back to the European Union to say that if it wants to have a policy, then it must resource that policy. I am grateful that at a national level at least we see the necessary means for it with the €3.15 billion but again, doubling down on what Deputy Harkin said, it cannot just be a general environmental fund. We need a ring-fenced stand-alone fund within that which is protected from a biodiversity perspective. From a finance point of view this is positive.

It is good that the National Parks and Wildlife Service is the lead agency. Any interaction I have had with it has been very positive. The clue is in the name. It is the wildlife service, so it is appropriate it is tasked with this. From a conservation angle, it makes sense that it is brought on board.

The Minister of State's commitment to consultation and the partnership approach is very important as well. The farming organisations, foresters and fishers need to be on board from the very first day and need to be shaping this policy if we want to get buy-in. As the commitment relates to State land, it is really important that Coillte, Bord na Móna and the National Parks and Wildlife Service will be doing the heavy lifting. It is very positive that public lands are being used and prioritised from that perspective.

The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, referred to the rewetting targets. There is perhaps a perception out there that we are going to start flooding bogs or peatlands. That clarification was very important. There will be no flooding or surface water. It is just bringing the water table up slightly, not even beyond the surface. This is a very important message to get out as well.

In summary, I welcome this plan. It is an opportunity for everybody but particularly for farmers, foresters and fishers, as well as for rural Ireland, industry and the next generation. I very much look forward to this plan being developed in accordance with our motion. I hope it will kick off as soon as possible. I am supportive of it and we will input in the very constructive and reasonable way we always done in the past. I look forward to hearing of its progress.

See this speech in context