Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)

Since taking office, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Sullivan, has been acutely conscious of the extensive engagement that has taken place with the NARGC, particularly in the context of the wild birds forum. At the same time, he must acknowledge that the NPWS operates within finite resources and that its executive and ecological capacity is already under significant pressure. The service faces a challenging and demanding agenda. It is responsible for the drafting and delivery of Ireland's nature restoration plan; the management of over 90 sites in State ownership; compliance and oversight across more than 600 Natura 2000 sites; the processing of over 11,000 permits and licences each year; statutory consultation on planning and development proposals; international compliance with a range of binding instruments; and 5 million visitors per annum to its sites. All of this represents a substantial and complex workload. Moreover, the upcoming EU Presidency will place additional demands on the same teams and key personnel.

In that context, the Minister of State has asked that a review be undertaken of all existing memoranda of understanding and the commitments arising from them. Specifically with regard to the MoU with the NARGC and in light of the current workload and overlapping responsibilities, he does not now believe it would be feasible to convene the cited forum before 2026 and certainly not before the work of the wild birds forum is concluded as he does not have the resources or the capacity to service two fora that would ostensibly cover the same subject area at the same time. This is not a reflection of any lack of value placed on that engagement. Rather, it is a practical response to the scale of the service’s current obligations and the need to ensure that all sectors receive fair and balanced attention. The Minister of State must also be mindful of the legal context in which these interactions occur and of the advice available to his Department in that regard.

See this speech in context