Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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247. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps that he is taking to protect the bee population. [31774/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The second All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2021-2025 is supported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It identifies a clear need for long-term monitoring mechanisms for wild pollinators, so that the impact of the Plan's actions can be properly assessed.

On 8 July 2021, Minister Pippa Hackett and I announced support for a pilot initiative to establish a National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. The scheme will track changes in wild pollinators across Ireland and is part of an initiative across much of Europe.

The scheme will monitor wild pollinators (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies) across a network of 50 sites incorporating farmland, semi-natural and public land. It involves collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the NPWS.

The scheme supports the All Ireland Pollinator Plan (AIPP) and proposed EU pollinator monitoring by establishing a robust national monitoring framework. This will deliver key metrics on pollinator population status and trends, and complement the long-term citizen science monitoring that is already being done through the All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme.

There is a commitment to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan in the Programme for Government and the AIPP is a substantial contribution to improving our understanding of, and conservation of, bees and other important pollinators.

I would like to acknowledge the important role of the Heritage Council in facilitating this collaboration between the two Departments and the National Biodiversity Data Centre, who are responsible for coordinating implementation of the AIPP.

Objective 2 of the AIPP is to make public land more pollinator friendly. The AIPP advocates prioritising the protection of existing natural and semi-natural habitats, creating natural meadows and verges through reduced mowing, sustainable pollinator-friendly planting, and reducing pesticide use.

Local Authorities have embraced this and their positive actions for pollinators across the island are changing the way our landscape is managed for the better.

Great strides have been made in recent years in caring for pollinators in cities, towns and villages across Ireland. Pollinator friendly areas are increasingly visible in our parks and public spaces as well as in housing and retail developments.

The Local Authority Biodiversity Grant Scheme, operated by the NPWS, offers funding to assist local authorities with the implementation of projects that promote actions contained in the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP). Projects supported by the grant scheme in recent years include a number of projects to support and protect pollinators, including wild bees.

Responsibility for matters relating to managed bee populations rests with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.