Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. We served in the previous Administration together. I congratulate her on her appointment and wish her all the best for the term ahead.

Listening back, I was particularly taken by the comments from Senator Joe O'Reilly about the response of the Government to the pressing issues of society. In looking at the appointment to Ministries of Ministers of State, I am somewhat disappointed. In 2019, the Dáil declared a biodiversity emergency as well as a climate emergency, and the 2020 programme for government recognised this by ensuring that biodiversity, for the very first time, had a seat at the Cabinet table. I am delighted with the appointment of the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, to my old post and I will work closely with him over the next term. However, the fact the role of nature has been downgraded in this Administration is most unfortunate. Both the children's assembly and the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommended that there be a senior post for nature. We need only look at the lost opportunity regarding Inland Fisheries Ireland, a point made by Senator Kyne. All of nature should be in a single portfolio. Whether it concerns habitats, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the EPA, freshwater ecology or marine diversity, it needs a coherent approach.

One of the things I found during the term of the last Government was that this disjointed element often pressed challenges on me, as Minister of State, and on other Departments in trying to address those wider issues. This was particularly the case with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the incredible work it is doing in managing a huge estate of eight national parks and 78 nature reserves, as well as all of biodiversity policy. This Government will have to face into a statutory national nature restoration plan, a statutory national biodiversity action plan, marine protected areas, on which I will speak shortly, and a water action plan, which is the only means of retaining our nitrates derogation and improving water quality across the country.

Some amendments have been tabled regarding the delegation of functions and the responsibilities of Ministers of State. It is a real challenge, and I know Senator Rabbitte and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, will attest to this as well. It took quite a long time for the delegated functions to come to me, as Minister of State, and you feel that you have no responsibility until that delegated function arrives on your desk. With regard to the marine protected areas, it arrived very late in my term of government and we had a huge challenge in trying to get that legislation developed. It is still not developed so I welcome the commitment in the legislative agenda, if not in the programme for Government, on delivering MPAs. All Senators have spoken about this wider interdependence and the responsibilities of Ministers of State, their actual function and role, and their accountability in both Houses to TDs and Senators. That is the real challenge here, and I know the Minister of State will agree with that.

I do not doubt the intent of the Government to look at the broader range and try to ensure we cover a much more diverse range of challenges, and the point made by Senator Craughwell regarding the Minister for Defence is also vital. What concerns me about expanding the number of Ministries and Ministers of State is the delegated function piece and the responsibilities. That needs to happen as soon as possible so the Ministers of State can get to work on the ground and on their legislative programme, and have actual powers to operate in their areas of competence.