Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister of State indicate where biodiversity is included in this Bill? The Minister of State has said he does not feel it is necessary in various ways and that other legislation exists. In this new Bill that is setting out the vision for Limerick and for the mayor and where lots of specific things are mentioned, such as cultural, rural and social development, as are employment, enterprise and tourism, where is the environment? There is lots of legislation and direct measures relating to all of those areas already, but we still have them mentioned here as well. I am wondering where the Minister of State sees biodiversity in respect of this. To be clear, I am not saying that we should not be implementing Government policy, it is the idea of Government policy-plus. The Minister of State mentioned that the Government is committed but there could be a new Government in six months' time. This is about future-proofing. Yes, we may have the Government policy but we need to recognise that if we did have a Government that failed to properly value Limerick and what it could deliver, we would have the capacity for policy initiatives to come from local level. Will the Minister of State clarify those two points?