Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck with his new role. For the first time in the history of the State, nature was prioritised at government level thanks to the leadership of the Green Party during our time in government. We restructured and significantly increased funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, developed a new national biodiversity action plan as a roadmap to reverse nature loss by 2030, created two new national parks at Dowth in County Meath and Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara in County Kerry, worked with the Department of agriculture to reward farmers who are improving their biodiversity and funded reintroduction programmes for corncrakes, the natterjack toad and curlews. These policies are having a major difference.

Last summer I had the opportunity to visit Eamon Sheehan’s derogation dairy farm in Kilkenny. That farm has abundant ponds, dense hedgerows, dung beetles recycling nutrients and a wide variety of bird and insect life. If we can provide space for nature on a busy dairy farm, we can do it everywhere. We can have productive agriculture, biodiversity and clean water as well. With the passage of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law we face a real opportunity to restore nature at scale across our island, but that plan needs funding. The Green Party called for a dedicated climate and nature fund. Where is that money? When will it be spent?

At EU level, the multiannual financial framework has earmarked €1.2 billion for climate and biodiversity. However, the soundings from Brussels are not good. There is a real risk this fund could be raided to ramp up spending for defence. Do we want that money in the hands of arms companies or should we distribute it fairly to farmers so they can help to restore nature? The Europe I want to see has more bees and fewer bombs. This National Biodiversity Week, let us remind ourselves that nature is not just in remote wilderness areas but also in our city streets, our parks and even in our back gardens. It needs the new Government to continue the momentum and it needs the new Government to continue the funding to secure it for future generations.

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