Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

No worries. I would like speak about a number of amendments. I think the issues covered in many of the amendments boil down to amendment No. 1f. Given that the Heritage Bill is sponsored by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, it is bizarre that it requires Waterways Ireland to engage "with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources" rather than the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. As this matter clearly falls within the ministerial remit and portfolio of the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, she should be consulted on it. We are proposing the amendments because we do not think the Minister, having brought the Bill to the House with the intention of pushing it through, should remove herself thereafter from any communication on a heritage or wildlife matter. I ask Senators to consider amendment No. 1f, in particular, in order that we can provide for consistency in relation to the Minister and her office.

Amendment No. 1e refers to "wild fauna and flora". Our environmental obligations as an EU member state mean that certain areas are protected, or potentially protected, because of their value as natural habitats and specifically because they are used as habitats by certain wild flora and fauna. I was surprised to see the findings of a study carried out in Clondalkin by an environmental group and several community groups which focused on the Royal Canal in the Clondalkin area. According to the study, there are 74 bird species in the Clondalkin part of the canal alone. This also ties into the argument that has been made for why the Minister needs to row back on what she is proposing in the case of hedgerows. The study found that as a result of the development of Grange Castle townlands and the construction of the outer ring road in the vicinity of the Grand Canal, the pheasant breeding grounds had been all but destroyed and that birds of prey, including the long-eared owl-----