Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am asking for a joined-up approach between the existing regulations and their implementation. I will come back to it.

I apologise - I neglected to mention my other amendment, to which the Minister has responded, on the statutory requirements. A serious concern that emerged in the meetings we had on the Bill, and I appreciate the Department meeting me, was that the all-Ireland pollinator plan is not regarded as statutory or a binding concern. This is one of the areas I have asked the Minister to list. The Minister mentioned that the list of directives and obligations is already there, but unfortunately what I have learned is that the all-Ireland pollinator plan is not something that will automatically be considered.

I will withdraw the amendment for now, but I put the House on notice that I intend to put forward an amendment explicitly on the all-Ireland pollinator plan. Will the Minister indicate that she intends to take its recommendations very seriously even though they are not, as I have been told by the Department, on a statutory basis? This is something of very serious concern to me. We heard from the beekeepers, from those in the butterfly movement and with regard to birds that pollination is absolutely crucial not just for the flourishing of our nature and wildlife, but also for the horticultural business and for food production in Ireland. Pollination is not a whimsical notion. It is the core of how we actually have thriving agriculture. It is green Ireland and it is what we put out there. Will the Minister indicate she takes the plan seriously? I will withdraw the amendment for now but I will table an amendment on Report Stage explicitly on the pollinator plan. I will probably also table Report Stage amendments on further tightening regulations on gorse fires and how they are managed because this is the section of the Bill into which they are likely to go.