Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be in the Chamber this evening to second Senator Higgins’s Bill. I want to begin by commending Senator Higgins and her staff, Sárán Fogarty and Ciara Gaynor, on their work in developing this Bill. We are very fortunate to have Senator Higgins and her team in the Oireachtas, given the work they have undertaken in developing their own legislative solutions to the problems we face in society but also in respect of the diligence with which they scrutinise and offer suggested improvements to Government Bills.

The Bill very positively addresses the significantly outdated mandates of Bord na Móna and Coillte to ensure that their remits take into account the need to protect, preserve and promote biodiversity in Ireland. As was noted, Coillte manages the largest individual share of land in the State - 7% of the land share - while Bord na Móna manages a further 1%. Bord na Móna is semi-State owned and Coillte is State-owned.

We are presented with an opportunity today to transform the management of a significant swathe of our national land share. Publicly-owned land should be prioritised for protection, preservation, restoration and rewilding. We can and should be doing much more in terms of increasing land sharing and land sparing across the country and across sectors. This Bill provides an excellent starting point for the State. It would also demonstrate the Government's commitment to acting on and achieving its own climate targets, providing the necessary leadership on climate action.

While financial supports for the agriculture sector are of course important in securing a just transition, they will not on their own make the change we need to see in terms of land use in Ireland. Evidence suggests that people are more likely to take affirmative action when they understand that it is the right thing to do. That is why provisions such as those contained within this Bill are so important.

There is a phenomenon known as “shifting baseline syndrome” wherein we do not see the environmental and ecological destruction which has taken place around us due to the shortness of the human lifespan relative to the other life that surrounds us. This is spoken about by Eoghan Daltun in his book An Irish Atlantic Rainforest, which I recommend to my colleagues to read. We currently perceive a significantly altered and degraded landscape, extensively managed, barren and devoid of wild nature as our baseline. The way things are and always have been and as the environmental landscape continues to degrade generation over generation, the baseline plummets lower and lower. We have completely forgotten that an alternative exists because we have become accustomed to that baseline.

While it is not possible for us to go backwards, we can chart a different path forward, but as we do so we must ensure that we focus on the health and functionality of entire ecosystems, as opposed to individual species. That is why the provisions in this Bill that relate to the rehabilitation and restoration of bogland and the protection of existing native woodland are so important. We need to stop managing land as much as possible and instead let the land do its own work as it has done for millennia.

In respect of the adoption of policies and practices that would support a just transition, I would like to bring to the attention of the House the fact that 2023 is the European Year of Skills. This is a year in which the EU will focus on addressing skills shortages in the EU to promote green and digital transitions. The State needs to provide as much support as possible to industry to facilitate the reskilling and upskilling of those who are currently employed in carbon-intensive industries so they can play a role in the just transition. We need to leverage whatever support and resources we can from Europe in that respect. It is beyond time for us to take urgent action to halt the continued and rapid decline to our climate and biodiversity.

By supporting this Bill, the Government would acknowledge the extent of the challenges that face us in this respect, but more importantly, the role the State can itself play in halting and indeed reversing this decline.