Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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99. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit have policies in place to install artificial structures that provide shelter and habitat space for wild species such as, but not limited to, insect hotels, bat boxes, nesting towers and beehives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23861/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that there is currently no such policy in place in my Department, including the Office of Government Procurement. With the exception of the Office of Public Works (OPW), this is also the position for the bodies under the aegis of my Department. The OPW have advised that they will respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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100. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under her remit have policies in place to install artificial structures that provide shelter and habitat space for wild species such as, but not limited to, insect hotels, bat boxes, nesting towers and beehives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23865/22]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the provision of office accommodation for my Department, and for many of those bodies under the remit of the Department such as the national cultural institutions, falls within the remit of the Office of Public Works. A number of these buildings are protected structures.

Within that context I am pleased to advise that my Department's office at New Road Killarney has a roof garden that has been planted with wild flower seeds.

The operation of such policies in those bodies under the aegis of my department is a day-to-day matter for the body concerned.