PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)

First, on behalf of the Fine Gael group, I express my sympathies to the Minister of State, Deputy O’Sullivan, and his family on the loss of his sister.

As Fine Gael’s spokesperson for biodiversity, I am delighted to speak on the merits of biodiversity week. I am grateful to my party leader and the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, for appointing me to this position as spokesperson for biodiversity in the Seanad. One of the reasons I first entered politics many years ago was because of my love of the Irish countryside, its flora and fauna and the nature around me and my desire to see it protected. As a farmer and as someone who observes nature both in my own farm and in the Irish countryside on my travels for work every day, I know that agriculture and nature can and must coexist. Indeed, they must go hand in hand.

As a commercial beekeeper for more than 20 years, I clearly understand the problems and threats posed by both the deliberate and accidental introduction of new species to our island. We need to be much more restrictive on honey bee imports in particular. I am quite concerned about the lackadaisical approach taken by both this Government and the previous Government in advancing through the Dáil the legislation that passed through this House more than two and a half years ago on restricting and limiting the imports of queen bees into Ireland.

As an angler and a hunter, I am aware that our traditional country sports are sustainable only while there is a surplus to be harvested within nature. Year on year, we see these surpluses diminish. Our salmon stocks and our red grouse and grey partridge numbers, all key game species in this country, have declined in the past 40 years. That does not need to be the case. Through good fisheries management in catchments such as the Erriff River on the border between Galway and Mayo, we have seen how salmon numbers can be sustainable and how angling can be sustainable in well-managed fisheries. Through several projects with red grouse in Wicklow and Galway, we have seen that with good management and predator control, populations can be kept sustainable. The same can be said for the Lough Boora project with the grey partridge, where we have seen the almost extinct Irish grey partridge brought back to population numbers where they have been able to be reintroduced to other parts of the country. With good management, not only do we retain these key native species, but we retain our traditional ways of life as well.

Over the millennia, species have come and gone naturally. However, the current extinction rate is unprecedented and accelerating. Species decline and extinction are beginning to affect the ecosystems services that we, as humans, depend on.All of these ecosystems are themselves dependent on biodiversity, from the tiniest microbes to the largest mammals, and their interactions, which together make up the web of life that we have all around us. Ireland is home to globally important populations of birds, fish, mammals, invertebrates, plants and fungi across a wide range of terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. The seas and coasts surrounding our island support vast colonies of seabirds, abundant fish and cold water coral reefs, whales and dolphins, as well as rich algal and invertebrate communities. On land there is a wealth of species in our mountains, peatlands, turloughs, woodlands, grasslands, lakes, rivers and coastal habitats. Over 31,000 species have been recorded in Ireland and its surrounding seas and I have no doubt there are many more yet to be discovered.

However, half of our rivers and two thirds of our estuaries are not in good ecological health. Very often in this and the other House of the Oireachtas people point at farmers when it comes to water quality but maybe we need to look at municipal wastewater treatment in our towns and villages and in rural Ireland. In my own municipal district of south Galway, we have two salmon rivers, the Dunkellin which runs through Craughwell and Kilcolgan, where it enters the sea, and the Clarin which enters the sea at Clarinbridge. These three settlements are not serviced with wastewater treatment facilities and water quality in these salmon rivers is declining year on year, along with the salmon numbers in the rivers. It is also worth noting that these two rivers enter the south of Galway Bay at the world famous but very vulnerable St. George oyster beds which are also seeing problems because of water enrichment in the estuary. I raised the issue of wastewater servicing of these settlements with the housing Minister in this House on two occasions but I have yet to receive an answer of any substance. Silence is what I received.

The Burren lowlands of south Galway and north Clare are, on a European scale, the most important habitat for bumblebees. Our limestone walls and pavements have for centuries, if not millennia, provided critical nest sites for these creatures. Over 80 species of bumblebee are found in this very small geographical area but one in five is now endangered. One in seven of these species is deemed to be near extinction and one in ten is deemed to be vulnerable to extinction. Due to poorly considered regulations by our Department of agriculture, hundreds if not thousands of kilometres of stone walls are condemned to disappear from the west of Ireland in an attempt to promote hedgerows that do not naturally have a place in this part of our landscape. When these walls go, they are gone forever and with them the fragile local ecosystem that they have sustained over the centuries.

All is not negative, however. In recent years due to fantastic voluntary efforts and State assistance, with particular credit due to my colleague here, Senator Noonan, we have seen the successful reintroduction of a number of key raptor species. The golden eagle, the white-tailed eagle, the red kite and the osprey now grace Irish skies again after decades, and in some cases centuries, of absence. Due to improvements in habitats on cutaway bogs, the common crane has now resumed its place in the Irish countryside and the little egret, which was rarely sighted just 20 years ago, is now a common sight throughout Ireland. This winter, a pair of glossy ibis made a temporary home on my own farm in south Galway. This is a bird that up until a few years ago I had only ever seen in pictures online. Now, due to improved habitat across the western seaboard, we are seeing them more commonly right around the area that I live in. Barn owl numbers are also on the rise throughout Ireland, as are those of most other native birds of prey, including the peregrine falcon which almost disappeared completely from this island in the 1990s. This being said, we must never get complacent. The curlew and lapwing numbers have been declining sharply over the last ten years. Work is being done on this but numbers continue to decline nationally. As farmers we must find a way to be productive in our industry while also making room for nature. As politicians, we need to give responsible leadership so that future generations of Irish people can enjoy the magnificent natural living wonders of this beautiful island home that we live in.