Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1311. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current delivery status of the Narrow Water Bridge project, including contract milestones, cost profile (including VAT treatment), and cross-Border co-ordination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47418/25]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Narrow Water Bridge, when complete, will connect Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co. Louth with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co. Down, providing a direct link between the Mourne Mountains and the Cooley Peninsula. The project has a strong public profile and strong support from stakeholders on both sides of the border and is entirely funded via the Shared Island Fund.

My Department is the approving authority for the project which is being delivered by Louth County Council. There are several cross-border oversight structures for the project, including the Narrow Water Bridge Oversight Board which consists of key stakeholders, including stakeholders from Northern Ireland. These stakeholders are:

• Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• Louth County Council
• Department of Transport
• Department for Infrastructure (NI)
• Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NI)

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1312. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position on the all-island nature restoration and biodiversity programme supported by the Shared Island Fund, including funded project types, selection criteria, governance with NIEA and timelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47419/25]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The selection process and criteria for projects to receive Shared Island funding are a matter for the Department of the Taoiseach, who manage the Shared Island Fund.

My Department, through the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), is the lead on three nature restoration and biodiversity projects supported by the Shared Island Fund. They are Natura Communities; the Shared Island Initiative Peatland Programme; and the Shared Island Biosecurity Invasive Species Initiative.

Natura Communities is an initiative piloted in Ireland since 2022 by the EU-funded LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature (WAN) Project under the NPWS. WAN is working in partnership with local authorities and local communities to deliver wetland and other ecosystem restoration at local level, in collaboration with Local Authority Biodiversity Officers and Climate Action teams.

Building on this successful pilot, an expanded, cross-border programme was launched in 2025 that works with Local Authorities and communities, North and South, to foster community-led action and restore 2,000 hectares of wetlands and other ecosystems within and adjacent to protected sites, North and South, from 2025 to 2030. Shared Island funding of €10 million was approved by Government in February 2025 to support the project, together with co-funding of €5m in funding from the NPWS over its six-year term.

The Shared Island Initiative Peatland Programme (SIIPP) is a partnership of the NPWS (via LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature (WAN), Northern Ireland Environment Agency and NatureScot, to deliver peatland restoration, across the three jurisdictions of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. To date, the Programme has restored more than 1,000 hectares of peatland habitat.

The SIIPP received €10 million from the Shared Island Fund, and €5 million in co-funding from the NPWS, to lead the resulting €15 million cross-border project, This project has been active since 2023 and aims to restore 4,000 hectares of blanket bog across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and will reduce carbon emissions of 6,000 tonnes of carbon per year through capacity building, knowledge exchange and research and monitoring. The Programme is envisioned to run until 2027.

The Shared Island Biosecurity and Invasive Species Initiative (BISI) was approved in December 2022 and provides a framework to coordinate a Shared Island response to the threat posed by invasive species. The five year project is being implemented by the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, with oversight from the NPWS. The Shared Island BISI provides a new framework to coordinate effective responses to the threat posed by invasive species. The key deliverables of the initiative are: a strategic all-island risk assessment and trend analysis on invasive species; a biosecurity awareness strategy and plan; catchment level coordination across our shared river basin districts; all-island alignment of both current and future pathway action and contingency plans; a citizen science invasive species programme; and establishment of the Shared Island Biosecurity and Invasive Species Stakeholder Forum.