Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I appreciate that this is not directly his departmental area but I must express my concern at the initial response. In 2021, the nature advisory committee was committed to but not established. In 2022, the stakeholder forum was committed to but not established and I am worrying now, based on the reply, that we are seeing a third forum being promised but not being established and another group of organisations in rural Ireland being let down. We still do not have a clear commitment or a date for the establishment of the countryside forum for nature. Rural communities have been waiting for years for a forum where stakeholders, including farmers, rural sports groups, and conservation organisations, can come together to discuss policy on nature, wildlife and habitats in a balanced and constructive way. While progress has been promised on multiple occasions, deadlines have slipped and I am worried that we are about to see more deadlines slipping.

The NPWS has signed a memorandum of understanding and I cannot comprehend how it can do that, commit to a date for a meeting to take place and then turn around, mere months after missing that date, and say that it is too busy to do it. How does the NPWS have the authority to sign something, commit to it and say to representative bodies that it is going to do something, and then turn around and say it is too busy with other things, has too many other commitments and cannot make it happen? A commitment has been made to the NARGC, a very good body that wants to work with the Government and the NPWS and other State agencies for the betterment of rural Ireland in the context of conservation activities. There are other groups that want to be involved too, in the one room, informing policy on a very important area for the people whom I represent. I ask the Minister of State to bring my concern back to the NPWS and the Minister of State and make it very clear to them how disappointed I am, on behalf of these groups, that they are possibly being let down again.

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