Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. As the Minister of State is well aware, the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss has completed its work, and I want to acknowledge and commend the remarkable 100 individuals involved who, over the seven meetings from May to January of this year, produced a report which includes 159 agreed recommendations from its 99 members. It is crucial for all of us, as Members of the Oireachtas, to thoroughly study the report and consider its recommendations, and for the Government to take decisive action upon them. The next phase will be that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action will conduct meetings and prepare its own report. I hope the committee will receive the necessary resources to do that.

We must acknowledge that time is of the essence. We find ourselves in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event, and waiting for another report is a luxury we cannot afford. It is paramount that the Minister of State and the State take prompt, decisive and urgent action to address biodiversity loss and restoration, providing leadership in safeguarding for Ireland's biodiversity for future generations as emphasised in the report's recommendations. One of those recommendations - I am sure the Minister of State is aware of it and has read the report - refers to the Arterial Drainage Act 1945 as a prime example of where the State should take action. A staggering 98% of members of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss agree that this outdated Act no longer serves its purpose, and that it requires a thorough review and updating to account for biodiversity, the climate crisis and actual adequate flood management because it is not fit for purpose.

The Irish Wildlife Trust has tirelessly exposed the folly of the Arterial Drainage Act. In fact, in a concise blog post called "The war on rivers", Pádraic Fogarty aptly states that the arterial drainage programme has devastated river ecosystems, robbing them of their fundamental ecological function. Under the Arterial Drainage Act, the Office of Public Works, OPW, is mandated to maintain over 11,000 km of river channels in Ireland. Unfortunately, the so-called maintenance results in the destruction of entire river systems. According to section 37 of the Arterial Drainage Act 1945, the OPW is legally obliged to keep all rivers, embankments and urban flood defences in proper repair and effective condition. As a result, the OPW employs heavy machinery, tearing out trees, decimating fish spawning grounds and transforming rivers into canal-like structures filled with debris.

Ceasing the arterial drainage works would not only benefit biodiversity but would also reduce the risk of flooding in our towns and villages. Flood management strategies have evolved significantly since 1945, and I believe the Minister of State would accept that we have moved on since the 1940s. Recent research, even by our nearest neighbours in Britain, demonstrates that nature-based approaches like "slow the flow" can provide a win-win solution for both biodiversity and flood prevention. What we need now is a law that is fit for purpose, one that effectively addresses the biodiversity and climate crisis and works harmoniously with people and nature.

I urge the Minister of State to outline the steps that are being taken to review the Arterial Drainage Act and to confirm that the Government will act on the recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss report. This is not the first time I have raised concerns I have with how the OPW treats nature and has often shown contempt for the law. I have raised the case of Emo Court, where the OPW actually broke the law numerous times and was never held to account. In another investigation which is particularly relevant to the Arterial Drainage Act, the Irish Wildlife Trust found that the OPW destroyed a kilometre of the Newport river in County Tipperary, a part of the lower River Shannon special area of conservation. Again, it faced no sanction whatsoever.

There are serious issues at stake here, so the question for the Minister of State is whether he agrees with the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. Does he agree that engineering, flood management and science have moved on since the 1940s and, therefore, the Arterial Drainage Act is no longer fit for purpose? If so, what steps will he take to review and update it?