Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Aire Stáit and the officials from his Department who are here today, everybody who has worked on this legislation and those who have contributed to it. The Acting Chairperson did a formidable job today and I say, "Well done".

The legislation is important. Putting our biodiversity plan on a statutory footing and putting an obligation on our public bodies to protect our biodiversity could not be more relevant when we hear the news and weather forecasts from all around Europe, and what we are experiencing ourselves. I congratulate everybody who has got the legislation this far. More importantly, I support and encourage all those who will be charged with making this legislation real and protecting our biodiversity in the work they will do into the future.

I wish the staff of the Seanad a good break from us for a bit. I know they will be here and working away. We really appreciate the support they have provided all of us throughout the year. We look forward to coming back in September.