Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Green Party Senators for bringing forward the motion. I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the biodiversity crisis that was declared by this House last year.

As someone who has worked in a national park for years I have a deep connection to biodiversity and am aware of the absolute urgent need to take action to save what is left, and invest in restoring what we can. I commend the Green Party Senators on what is a very comprehensive motion on tackling the biodiversity crisis. I look forward to the time when the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett, brings forward the legislation that will fulfil the demands stated in the motion.

I shall point out two things that I hope will be taken on board by the Government because, unfortunately, no amendments were tabled for them. One is the inclusion of rhododendron on the list of invasive species. As someone who has worked in Killarney National Park, I know that we need to take an evidence-based approach to the eradication of rhododendron. Unfortunately, to date that approach has not been taken in Killarney National Park.

The motion focuses a lot on the collection of data, and rightly so. I ask that the Government considers stopping tendering out the running of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and instead bring it under central control but resource it adequately. That would mean giving permanent contracts to the scientists and researchers employed thus valuing their contribution to society.

I do not disagree with the intentions of the Bill. I come from a school of thought that views nature as having value in its own right. Nature should be protected regardless of the benefits that humans might happen to accrue from it. Unfortunately, I wince when I hear the term "ecosystem services" because nature does not serve us. In fact, it is rather a case that we in the global North have exploited nature for centuries. The concept of offsets and ecosystem services are taken from the book of technocratic, green-minded decision-makers who believe that something will not be respected for its intrinsic value but rather only for its monetary value or for what we, as humans, can get out of it.It sets up an unhealthy master-servant relationship with nature and it perpetuates the narrative that nature must be subsumed within the economy rather than the other way around. Commodifying nature is morally wrong, but it also comes with real risks. If something can be bought and sold or if one puts a price on something, there will always be people with pockets deep enough to buy their way out of protecting it or to claim ownership of it. Decommodification activists in the indigenous communities have been warning us for years that in many senses what we are trying to do now with nature is a form of neo-imperialism. In many cases, it does not have the desired outcomes that people promise. Payment for ecosystem services risks creating perverse incentives, for example, a forestry system that is set up to store carbon but which incentivises the planting of non-native species or the planting of trees on biodiversity-rich marginal land. If this sounds familiar, it is because that is the state of forestry in Ireland.

As I said, I wholeheartedly welcome this motion but, with no disrespect to those who drafted it, I wish we did not have to be in a space where we have to calculate the monetary value or cost of not protecting biodiversity and that we would legislate for it because it is the right thing to do. Sinn Féin will support this motion but we hope that our amendments will also be supported because we believe they come from a good place and they seek to strengthen the motion which, as I said, is very comprehensive. One of the Sinn Féin amendments relates to liquefied natural gas, LNG. The rationale for it is that the motion outlines how human action is behind the biodiversity crisis and an important driver of that is the climate change crisis. Changing climate means shifting habitats, seasons and ocean acidification, among other factors that all negatively impact on biodiversity. In the programme for Government the Green Party secured a partial ban on one specific LNG terminal on the Shannon Estuary but we learned in The Sunday Business Postthat the leader of the Green Party is considering a plan which could allow the construction of three floating terminals and turn Ireland into a massive exporter of fossil gas. The clear signal that this State could send to the fossil fuel industry is a ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure such as these terminals for liquefied natural gas.

Sinn Féin has also tabled an amendment calling for the climate Bill that is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny to actively support the implementation of the national biodiversity action plan. We have heard from eminent speakers at the Joint Committee on Climate Action why this is so important. We need to take climate action to protect biodiversity but how we take that action can adversely impact on biodiversity. It is essential that the actions that we take to address climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are fully complementary. Again, I hope that this amendment will be accepted because it is critical it is included in the climate Bill.

Senator Martin stole my thunder in speaking on the Sinn Féin amendment with regard to bees. Ireland has potentially the greatest reserve of Apis melliferain the world. We need urgent action to protect it. I have engaged with beekeepers, particularly in Connemara, who are desperate for action in this area. Voluntary does not cut it. We need to have a strategy in place because these beekeepers are finding non-native bees in their hives today and every day and they are demanding that action be taken on the issue.

Sinn Féin wants to work with colleagues in this House. Our amendments come from a good place. We believe they are constructive and we hope that Senators will support them.