I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who is no stranger to this Chamber.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Road Safety
I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I really appreciate it. This issue is something I raised last week and I am delighted that it was selected as a Commencement matter.
Over the past year, I have canvassed in three elections and without a shadow of a doubt the biggest issue at the doors was the speed on our roads, whether that was on a housing estate or a rural road. People are living in fear that someone they know will be injured or, worse, killed. That is the fear of people living in Kilmessan, County Meath - a village with a population of 1,000 and growing. It houses two shops, a chipper, a restaurant, two pubs, a credit union, a school, a church and a hotel, which are all on the main street. The hotel draws in thousands per year such is the popularity of weddings there. To help with my explanation, I have brought in an aerial view of the village. As everyone can see, it goes the whole way down one straight road. With all of these businesses, the Minister of State can imagine how busy a village it is. The main road running through the village is the problem.
I received the following message from a constituent when I raised this previously:
At 8.15 p.m. on St Patrick's Day, I noticed a vehicle acting erratically. The vehicle sped through the village and was on both side of the road swerving from side to the other. The driver conducted three handbrake manoeuvres through the village. This left tyre marks on the road.
At this time there were ten people on the footpaths, including children. I cannot imagine what would have happened if this car had lost control and hit some of them. For three years, Skane Valley Community Council, a local council set up for the good of the village, along with other politicians and I, have asked Meath County Council to install ramps or speed controls in the village. Unfortunately, the request keeps getting turned down because when the council sends out traffic survey staff the average speeds at those particular times are not fast enough. However, the recorded speeds were between 42 km/h and 50 km/h. Given all the businesses, the church, school and hotel, that road is busy with parked cars on both sides of the road. If cars are travelling through at between 42 km/h and 50 km/h, it is a recipe for disaster.
I do not have facts to show the Minister of State, but it is very obvious to all who live in Kilmessan, and especially to the school authorities, that traffic calming is desperately needed such as speed bumps or humps, rumble strips, chicanes or a dynamic speed display sign. In order for Meath County Council to apply for funding for this road, it needs to pass the traffic survey. Everyone around that village can see what is happening.
I have three requests. The first is that other ways are allowed to determine how dangerous a road is in a village. Is it always about science or can it be science combined with the testimonies of people in that particular village? The people in that village know that it is a huge problem but feel it will take an accident to create a fact before something gets done. I love the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." This particular village wants to raise its children in safety but that is not happening right now. My second request is that the Minister of State takes this representation with him today and sees what his Department can do to solve the issue of danger in Kilmessan. I would hate to be standing here in front of him again after a fatality happened. The road outside the school in Kilmessan, which is attended by 231 children, needs to be examined. There is zero traffic calming outside the school right now. Finally, we need a serious examination of speed in all of our villages. I recognise that speed limits have been reduced on rural-local roads and we are expecting a reduction in urban core areas, which I am not sure will apply in this instance. I ask that villages around Ireland, many of which have experienced a big increase in population over the past few years, are reviewed in terms of what needs to be done on traffic calming.
I thank the Senator for raising this important issue relating to Kilmessan. I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, who sends his apologies.
I fully understand where the Senator is coming from. I assure her that the Government, road safety partners and all the agencies are working to address the alarming trends in road fatalities and serious injuries and continue to focus on priority actions. I will bring the Senator's request to measure and collate data and to use it as a part of a road safety campaign relating to traffic calming back to the Department.
In the context of the response by the Department, which I will come back to, the Senator made a very good point regarding the school, its 231 students, their parents and teachers and the entire school community. I wonder whether the school has applied to participate in the safe routes to school programme. I am happy to work with the Senator in this regard because it is important that we collectively work with, for example, as she said, Skane Valley Community Council and Meath County Council, to get back on track towards a steady reduction in annual fatalities on our roads. Each fatality is a person from a family, from a village and from a community. As I said earlier this week in the House, last year there were 175 road deaths, which was down on the year before, but this figure was the highest since 2014. As the Senator rightly said, there are four causes of deaths on our roads: speeding, distracted road users, not wearing a seatbelt and intoxicated driving. The matter she has raised relates to erratic speed and the volume of traffic.
As I mentioned in the House this week, some of this is about personal responsibility, some is about the combined approach of the Government, agencies and Meath County Council in the Senator's case, and working with people and public representatives such as Senator Nelson Murray to ensure we tackle behaviour, bring in education and enforcement and create driver awareness about the long-term effect of speeding. We also need to bring in legislative reform.
As Senator Nelson Murray said, the speed limit changes were introduced in February and were backed by legislation. They are part of the Government's response to systemically address the most dangerous of behaviours. The current national framework for road safety is set out in the Government's fifth road safety strategy. I hope we can work with local authorities to ensure we deliver for Senator Nelson Murray.
Senator Ryan and the Leas-Chathaoirleach referenced the Castletroy junction in the House previously. This week, Senator Kennelly made a point on the issue in Kerry. It is about working to have the Vision Zero targets achieved. This means a combined effort, taking on board some of what Senator Nelson Murray has suggested and perhaps changing some of the parameters. Under the action plan, which is phase 2 of the strategy over the next two years, we will focus on delivering actions that can have a high impact on the road safety outcomes we all want.
As Members know, the Road Traffic Act is the Government's response to road safety trends. It tries to monitor, regulate and change driving behaviour through, for example, mandatory drug testing at the scene of a collision, penalty points system reform and the introduction, which Senator Nelson Murray might want to see in her area, of safer default speed limits as recommended by the speed limit review. The speed limit review will bring decreases in speed limits from 80 km/h to 60 km/h and from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. We have done this in some larger urban areas. In a debate this week, Senator Noonan made reference to a friend of his who was involved in a fatal road traffic accident. It is about ensuring that, in urban areas such as Kilmessan, we have safer speed limits. It is not about applying targets. Rather, it is about working with local authorities to conduct speed limit reviews to aid them in setting correct speed limits, looking at traffic calming measures, and working with An Garda Síochána on enforcement.
As Senator Nelson Murray has said, the accumulation and gathering of speed data is important for each local authority. If there is an anomaly and we are not getting the proper information then I, as the Minister of State, am not afraid to look at it and speak to the relevant people. In the case of Kilmessan, the average peak and off-peak speeds should be collated so that we can ensure accurate information is provided. I look forward to working with Senator Nelson Murray on the matter and with the Ministers, Deputies O'Brien and Calleary.
I thank the Minister of State very much for his very thorough response, which I appreciate. I know the Government is working well on reducing speed limits and everything else we are trying to do. With regard to speed limits, we do not even have a Garda station in Kilmessan. It was closed a good few years ago. A garda comes to the village only once a week. It is hard to reprimand people for speeding.
I will take up the suggestion on the safe routes to school programme and I thank the Minister of State for it. With regard to the information we are getting, there is an anomaly, as the Minister of State has said. We should use testimony from the people in the village to let the Minister of State know what is happening. This should also be taken on board as well as the facts.
I thank Senator Nelson Murray and I reassure her the Government is fully committed to providing a safe and secure transport network - Kilmessan is very much a part of this - that will help to serve the needs of all members of society. From my perspective in government, the Government's road safety strategy is the bible we used to improve road safety and make our roads safer for all. The strategy is about delivering Vision Zero, with zero deaths on our roads by 2050. It is also about ensuring, in the case raised by Senator Nelson Murray, that we have consistent and appropriate speed limits that will help improve road safety. The proposed speed limit review was undertaken by the Department of Transport in 2023. The first phase of this has had an effect. The next phase will be the change in going from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. Hopefully in urban areas and towns we will see the various classes of roads being looked at by local authorities in conjunction with various stakeholders with regard to bylaws. Meath County Council will have a role to play in having special speed limits that may differ from the default speed limits.
I would not be afraid to ask An Garda Síochána, despite Kilmessan having no Garda station, to look at the issue of technology. We have the GoSafe vans and speed cameras. Equally, Meath County Council has a critical role in setting special speed limits on roads, or on sections of roads, where it believes specific circumstances mean a speed limit that differs from the default is required. I will be happy to work with Senator Nelson Murray on this.
Public Transport
The Minister of State is very welcome to the House and I thank him for being here to respond to my Commencement matter. When I submitted this matter, I asked that the Minister engage with the NTA on implementing fairer fares for north County Dublin. The fairer fares scheme has been rolled out to some extent and I know more work has to be done on it but I am speaking specifically about the two stations of Balbriggan and Skerries. They are in the Dublin commuter zone and all other stations in Dublin are in the Dublin city zone. This is a significant difference. In the Dublin city zone, the €2 Leap card fare gets people to Connolly Station. The same trip from Balbriggan or Skerries to Connolly Station is significantly more expensive. From Balbriggan, it is €3.90 and from Skerries it is €2.90. This is a big difference. When we think about it, it is €20 a week and more than €1,000 a year. This is what commuters from Balbriggan and Skerries pay compared to people travelling from the next neighbouring stations of Rush and Lusk, who pay the €2 Leap card fare.
The fairer fares scheme has been good for other parts of the country. Passengers from Drogheda have recently seen a significant decrease in their fares. Fair play to them and I have no complaints about this but we are in a situation where we are trying to encourage people to take public transport and fares are being increased for commuters from Balbriggan and Skerries. It is not fair, particularly when we take into account that people are paying for parking at these train stations also, as there are very poor links between the residential areas and the train stations. This adds to the cost of going to work.
Balbriggan and Skerries are the only two Dublin stations that are not in the Dublin city zone. The people there feel very aggrieved. Skerries and Balbriggan are in Dublin, yet they are in the same zone as other stations that are not in County Dublin. This is not fair. Will the Minister of State engage with the NTA to look at this and revisit it? The commuters in Balbriggan and Skerries are really after getting a raw deal with this scheme. Other parts of the country have vastly reduced train fares and bus fares. These commuters are caught in the middle.
The Government has done a lot of work to reduce fares for people, which is to be commended, and more people are using public transport, but when we have this situation where commuters pay over €1,000 more than their neighbours in the next town, it is not fair. I would like to hear the response of the Minister of State to this. He will probably tell me the roll-out of the fairer fares programme has been a great success. I acknowledge that it has been a good success in other parts but the commuters of Balbriggan and Skerries are caught by this. They are not seeing the benefit of it. They feel very aggrieved with the big disparity in their train fare of €3.90 as opposed to €2. The Minister of State can do the maths on doing this trip twice a day, five days a week, over 52 weeks in the year. It is a significant difference. Will the Minister of State respond and engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the NTA to see whether there can be a workaround for the commuters of Skerries and Balbriggan?
I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for her contribution and for raising very valid points, in particular on the price differentiation. She is right about the Dublin commuter zone. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for her constant advocacy for public transport and for the people in Balbriggan and Skerries. I will take the Senator’s points back to the Minister.
As Members will know, the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport, but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The NTA has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation, PSO, contracts. The points made by Senator Clifford-Lee regarding the price differential are valid.
That said, the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2025, the Department of Transport secured €658.5 million of funding for PSO and TFI Local Link services, an increase from €614 million in 2024. The package includes funding for the continuation of the various public transport fare initiatives, as the Senator acknowledged, and funding to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those aged five to eight, and also to support new and enhanced public transport services.
In its capacity as fare regulator, the NTA published a new national fares strategy in April 2023 and following this, in January 2024, it published the first of a series of fares determinations related to the strategy. This was aimed at simplifying fares and introducing a fairer distance-based structure. I understand the Department of Transport is engaging with the NTA on the implementation of the second phase of the strategy, which will introduce more integrated and equitable fares in the Dublin commuter area. As part of the fares determination 2024 strategy, a Dublin city zone extending to approximately 23 km from the city centre and a Dublin commuter zone extending to approximately 50 km from the city centre, with Skerries and Balbriggan located in commuter zone 2, will be introduced. This area was selected based on a review of future public transport network proposals, for example, the implementation of DART+, along with analysis of ticket sales information to determine travel demand. Later phases will include the introduction of free transfer flat fares in the regional cities and certain towns and distance-based fares for the rest of Ireland outside towns and cities.
The new commuter zone will include stations outside of the Dublin city zone extending as far as Rathdrum, Kildare, Enfield and Drogheda station, including Newbridge, and will provide better value for passengers from these areas. The Dublin commuter zone fare is designed to ensure the cheapest fare is made available for passengers and will help alleviate boundary issues between the national and city fare structures. For example, for a journey from Newbridge to O’Connell Street, passengers will benefit from the flat fare element within the city, facilitating longer distances of travel at a cheaper fare.
Unfortunately, the implementation of phase 2 has been delayed due to a number of technical challenges, but I have been advised that Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and Luas are all working closely with their ticketing contractors to enable implementation of the phase 2 fare changes. The implementation of the changes to the rail fares is being led by Irish Rail and the work requires updating ticketing systems, ticketing machines and the installation of new Leap card validators at stations that will come under the new fares structure. The Department of Transport is continuing to engage with the NTA as it works with Irish Rail to minimise or reduce this delay and has advised that phase 2 of the fares determination will go live shortly, as the technological updates to rail ticketing systems by Irish Rail's contractor are due to be completed shortly.
I am well aware the Department and the Minister are not involved in day-to-day operations of public transport, but the opening paragraph of the Minister of State's response stated that the Minister is responsible for policy. This is why I am asking for engagement. It is the policy of the Government to encourage people onto public transport, to lessen the burden of cost on commuters and to make fares fairer.
Balbriggan and Skerries have been caught in this Dublin commuter zone. The Minister of State named a number of other stations in the commuter zone - Rathdrum, Kildare, Enfield and Drogheda. None of those stations is in Dublin. The point I am making is that these are two Dublin stations. The people of Balbriggan and Skerries getting the train every day are coming in and working here in the Houses of the Oireachtas, city centre offices and businesses across the city. They are part of Dublin city. They come into Dublin city to go to school, university and sports events. They are part of Dublin city, like the rest of the city, yet they are being treated the same as people living in counties Louth, Kildare or Wicklow. It just does not make sense that they are made to pay this cost. It is policy matter and it is something the Minister can engage with.
I would like the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, to go back to the NTA and not treat people who are culturally part of Dublin city, and who contribute to Dublin city daily, as something else.
I again thank Senator Clifford-Lee for her contribution. She makes valid points regarding the people of Balbriggan and Skerries. I will bring them to the Minister on her behalf.
As the Senator said, the Department of Transport has been working with the NTA over recent years to simplify fares across bus, rail and light rail services and introduce a fairer distance-based structure. The programme for Government is committed to review existing fare structures so that we can ensure that public transport is as accessible as possible, supports the delivery of services, and incentivises off-peak travel. It also commits to rolling out contactless fare payments on all public transport, keeping fares low and affordable and examining the further expansion of free public transport for children.
When phase 2 is implemented, it will involve the introduction of the new Dublin city and Dublin commuter zones, which will lead to a significant reduction in Leap card multimodal caps, and the introduction of Leap card credit at all Dublin commuter rail stations, which will be a further positive step towards a more equitable approach to public transport fare pricing.
The Government is committed to delivering a cost-efficient and sustainable public transport network. I will bring the Senator's comments back to the Minister for Transport.
I ask for the Acting Chairperson's permission and indulgence for one moment.
Members might not be aware but today is a very sad but exciting for all of us in the Oireachtas. A great colleague and friend of ours, Aisling Hart, the private secretary to the Cathaoirleach’s office, is retiring. On my own behalf as a former Cathaoirleach and a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for 18 years, I thank Aisling most sincerely for the warmth of her personality, sincerity, care, kindness and professionalism, but above all, for being herself. She is one of the most genuine, nice and honest people I have ever worked with. I say “Míle buíochas” to her and thank her. She is a wonderful person who keeps the office going and keeps all of us in check. I wish her a happy retirement.
I wish her the very best.
Health Services
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, for coming in. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, approached me yesterday to give her personal apologies to the family this matter relates to because she cannot be here due to her schedule. However, I am glad the Minister of State is taking it because we have worked side by side over recent years in the Seanad, and I know he understands where I am coming from with regard to this Commencement matter.
This is the story of Mikey Henry, a 16-year-old boy who lives in Ballina, County Mayo. He has a neurological condition and, unfortunately, he has developed a severe scoliosis of the spine, which is often a secondary consequence of neurological diseases. It has happened to my son. It is an organic, inevitable and predictable consequence of neurological conditions. If we lived in another jurisdiction, he would have had surgical intervention on this twist in his spine. That is normal and routine in other jurisdictions. If we lived in the UK, France or Germany, he would have been treated, but he has not been treated. This is not just the story of Mikey Henry, a 16-year-old. It is the story of all the children on the scoliosis waiting list. It is a predictable, preventable condition that requires surgical intervention, but that does not happen here.
I spoke to other Senators coming in this morning. The sun is shining. I spoke to Senator Murphy of Sinn Féin. He told me it was 17°C in London yesterday. The trees are in blossom and everything is coming back to life, but a 16-year-old is deteriorating at home in Ballina. Because of the extreme curvature of his spine, he now has type 2 respiratory failure.
He is on oxygen during the day and has to wear a mask at night. I can tell you what it is to hear your child struggle for breath and struggle to speak. Your voice, and being able to speak, is your most powerful instrument, especially for a disabled citizen, and it is being compromised unnecessarily. He has not been seen at Crumlin for seven months and it is no longer communicating with the family. The family has been told by Crumlin that he is now inoperable. In this country, he has become inoperable. For shame.
This is preventable, avoidable and unnecessary. This is a waste of a young child's life. I have heard so many people talk about the Netflix series "Adolescence". It has become a major talking point, but this is adolescence in Ireland; young boys and girls are left to deteriorate in this manner. The scandal of the children's hospital is not written in the billions of euro it has cost to build it. The scandal of CHI is written on the spines, and the little lungs and hearts, of hundreds of children, such as Mikey Henry and his mother, Penny.
I know the Minister of State will communicate this to the Minister and I have all of the family's contact details. A surgeon who could review Mikey's case will be in Ireland on 31 March. I know from my son's experience that these cases, though complex, can be operated upon. It is within the gift of the State and the Minister to answer this mother's plea for her son. We should not have to do this. For a family, it is like "The Hunger Games". People such as Penny have to come out in public to talk about their son's situation - here we are. Will the Minister of State communicate that to the relevant Ministers? Let us please sort this problem out.
I thank the Senator very much. I know the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has spoken to him on this matter. I thank him for raising the wider issue. As he will appreciate, I cannot speak to the individual case he referred to. However, I reiterate the Government's commitment to ensuring ongoing improvements in paediatric orthopaedic services to ensure that children with scoliosis and spina bifida are treated as quickly and safely as possible. I acknowledge the Senator's work in this area. He brought forward a Private Members' Bill on the matter last week, which I also acknowledge.
Our goal, and I am sure it is one we all share in this House and outside of it, is for every person in Ireland to have access to the care they need when they need it. I acknowledge that the waiting lists for spinal surgery services are too long and that some patients are waiting longer than we wish. I also acknowledge the difficulties parents are facing, particularly when watching their children in discomfort and pain and having to explain to a son or daughter that they cannot exactly say when his or her suffering may be ended. However, I also have to acknowledge the progress and investment that have been made in recent years, and will continue to be made under the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill.
The additional investment has allocated significant resources to help tackle waiting lists for spinal procedures. Last year, an additional 52 full-time equivalent posts were approved to enhance spinal services, including consultants, nurses and health and social care professionals, 14 of whom are already in post. Additionally, €11.6 million has been allocated for international outsourcing. This builds on the €19 million investment in these services over the past number of years, which has supported the hiring of more staff, an additional theatre and MRI scanner and 24 additional beds. This investment has made an impact. In 2024, 513 paediatric spinal procedures were completed, which is a 10% increase compared with 2023 and a 35% increase compared with 2019. In 2024, the total active spinal waiting list decreased from 127 to 108, which is a reduction of 15%. In 2024, the number of patients actively waiting more than four months decreased by 37%. There was also a 59% reduction in the longest waiting patients, with the number actively waiting for over a year declining from 29 to 12.
I am conscious that these figures will offer little comfort to many parents and children awaiting news on when their surgery will be. The dedicated spinal surgery management unit established within CHI last year is responsible for managing the delivery of spinal surgery and driving continuous improvement to the service. This unit is supported by the wider paediatric orthopaedic and multidisciplinary teams, ensuring patients are prioritised correctly for surgery and working to reduce waiting lists and waiting times for spinal surgeries. Extra outpatient clinics are taking place where new spinal outpatients are being seen. GPs can now refer patients directly to CHI, ensuring that urgent cases will be prioritised. National outsourcing opportunities are being utilised to maximise capacity for complex spinal surgeries and arrangements are in place with hospitals in New York and London. I understand families are supported in accessing these pathways, if it is the right option.
I reiterate that I understand that behind every number is a child and a family. We are doing everything we can to try to assist in reducing those waiting lists further. The investment will assist with that in the time ahead.
I thank the Minister of State. When a family comes forward like this and identifies themselves, not only can their individual case be discussed, it must be discussed. This is not a reference to the Minister of State, but I saw it employed as a rhetorical device by previous Ministers and, in particular, the HSE, when they say that they cannot comment on individual cases. However, when a family comes forward, not only can they comment, they must comment on individual cases. It happens in rape cases, where survivors give up their anonymity to raise a particular issue. That is what this family is doing. I hope that in future the HSE will not rely on this rhetorical device to add insult to injury, and moral injury, to the distress being experienced by families.
The window of opportunity for Mikey is closing. I implore the Minister of State to please communicate to the Minister that there is an opportunity to assist this family. If he and I can do something, let us do it. We can devolve authority to the HSE and to CHI but we cannot devolve responsibility. We are in a position to do something for Penny and Mikey. Let us do it.
We could deal with many of these issues at committees. We need to have the committees re-established. Again, that is not a criticism of the Minister of State. We should prevail upon all our colleagues in the House to resolve the issues and get committees up and running, so we can really get to the heart of these issues and matters.
I again thank the Senator for raising this matter. I take on board the points he raised. The programme for Government commits to a number of measures, including additional staffing and resources to ensure there is sufficient capacity in the system, and using private capacity both at home and abroad. The Senator's points are very well made. I understand that behind every number is a family and a child. We are working to ensure that we reduce the list, as I outlined. Progress has been made in recent years. It is important to acknowledge that, but of course it is not enough. We will continue to work with the Senator, the House and everybody to try to drive those numbers down even further. I do not want to see, and neither does the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, any child waiting for surgery.
Coillte Teoranta
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht teacht isteach sa Teach. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis. I have not had the opportunity to formally congratulate him on his appointment. I received correspondence from the Department of agriculture yesterday indicating that neither the Minister for agriculture, nor the three Ministers of State, were available to take this Commencement matter, so I appreciate the Minister of State being here.
An article by Caroline O'Doherty in the Irish Independent on 22 March this year reported that Coillte had very quietly folded its dedicated biodiversity division, Coillte Nature. At the time, Coillte stated that it would subsume and embed its biodiversity duty across the organisation. It was also claimed that staff and all relevant stakeholders had been informed of the decision in January, yet the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, wrote to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, in March asking what was happening at Coillte Nature. The Minister of State replied a few days later saying that he had raised the issue with Coillte. I am not sure if Coillte is duty bound to inform the Ministers, but that was the response.
Coillte Nature was established as a not-for-profit section of Coillte Teoranta and was dedicated to the restoration, regeneration and rehabilitation of nature across Ireland. Its work included the Dublin Mountains makeover project, a hugely important stakeholder project that has provided great benefits to the communities there. There was also regeneration of the midlands' native woodlands and wild western peatlands in the north west.
In 2024, Coillte signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, in my presence and that of the then Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, at last year's National Ploughing Championships. The memorandum undertook to work collaboratively on the restoration of Coillte lands of strategic value for nature or where they were of a poor yield class. It focused particularly on sites such as the Slieve Bloom Mountains that could benefit threatened hen harrier populations. On announcing the decision, Coillte stated that it had decided to absorb the work of Coillte Nature into its existing and larger Coillte Forest organisational structure and that this reorganisation would enable Coillte to significantly improve its delivery on climate and nature restoration projects. It went on to say the decision was in line with the strategic vision published in 2022. On page six of that document, however, Coillte Nature is given an explicit role in nature restoration work, which I would have assumed is a hugely important part of its work. Coillte is also one of the State's largest landowners, responsible for 140,000 ha of land, or 7% of the country's land area.
This was a very strange and quiet deletion from the company's business plan and strategy. What is happening to staff in this instance? Have there been any redundancies? Were all relevant Ministers informed? I am conscious that there was an interregnum between the outgoing Government and the formation of the new one. Could Coillte not have waited until a new Government was formed to engage with relevant Ministers? At a time when we are in the depths of a biodiversity crisis, is this a bad business management plan by Coillte? How will it impact on the business model and the nature trust? That is a lot of questions and, as the previous speaker noted, our committees are not yet up and running, so there is not an opportunity to engage directly with Coillte on this or to ask what the rationale was behind this decision.
In light of the Gresham House deal and the really poor communication around it, there are significant concerns among stakeholders in the forestry sector. Was the board informed of this decision? Is it not a signal that Coillte is not committed to nature restoration? That is the question, given that this week we have embarked with the stakeholders on engagement on a national nature restoration plan. That is a lot of questions and I appreciate that the Minister of State is here on behalf of the Minister for agriculture, but it is important that we get answers on this.
I thank Senator Noonan for raising this important matter relating to Coillte's organisational structure, which I will address on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Heydon. I welcome the opportunity to answer the questions the Senator raised and to update the House on recent developments.
Coillte was set up as a commercial State body under the Forestry Act 1988 and, therefore, is independent of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in respect of operational matters, as specified under the Act. As one of the shareholders of Coillte, however, the Minister has responsibility for oversight of the company in accordance with the Act. He also has expectations regarding Coillte's engagement in climate action, biodiversity and nature rehabilitation, all of which complement the company's contributions to the forest and wood product industry. These expectations are set out in the shareholders' letters of expectation. In this context, the Department supports Coillte's work to develop projects of scale to create, restore, regenerate and rehabilitate biodiverse habitats across Ireland.
The Minister acknowledges the work carried out by Coillte as part of its Coillte Nature brand since its establishment in 2019. Its initiatives include contributing to restoring biodiversity at The Raven nature reserve in Wexford, enhancing biodiversity in alluvial woodlands in Sligo and continuing to transform 900 ha of commercial plantations for people and nature in the Wicklow Mountains. In addition, Coillte provides woodland management services to the Nature Trust. The company has assured the Department it is committed to continuing this work, as well as all other projects that were set up under the Coillte Nature brand. The decision to absorb the work of Coillte Nature into Coillte's main forestry division is an organisational matter and this reorganisation will enable a more integrated approach to all nature and biodiversity projects.
Coillte informed the Department of this decision at a meeting in February. It explained that the need for a separate nature unit has been superseded by Coillte's overall strategic vision for the forest estate announced in 2022. This seeks to derive multiple benefits from State forests, bring more focus to climate action and set ambitious new targets on biodiversity and recreation while continuing to deliver for the forest and wood product industry. As part of its strategy, Coillte is planning to redesign 30,000 ha of peatland forest for climate and ecological benefits and to enhance and restore biodiversity, by increasing the area of the estate managed primarily for nature from 20% to 30% by the end of 2025 and to 50% in the long term. The objectives set out in Coillte's strategic vision for its forest estate are very much aligned with our shared national vision for trees and forests in Ireland by 2050 and our national forest strategy to 2030. Therefore, Coillte is confident that its decision to absorb the work of Coillte Nature into its main forest division will not interrupt any of Coillte Nature's ongoing projects and that its reorganisation will not impact negatively on the objectives set out in Coillte's strategic vision and strategy for its forest estate.
In his comprehensive response, the Minister of State referred to the 2022 strategic vision. However, in that strategic vision, Coillte Nature has a very specific role, but that is now being deleted. That is the question I have. It is frustrating for us all that the committees are not up and running because we cannot ask these questions directly of Coillte. It is important that we get answers on this. I mentioned the Gresham House debacle. We would have expected Coillte to have improved on its communications with all stakeholders and the general public, in light of a decision like this. It appears that it is removing a very specific part of its function, the not-for-profit Coillte Nature, which had a very dedicated team working on nature restoration. That does not spell a very good commitment towards nature restoration. I appreciate the answer given by the Department but as the Minister is a stakeholder with responsibility for and oversight of the company, it is important that he take up the matter with Coillte as a matter of urgency.
I note the concerns the Senator has raised but, as stated, the Minister is committed to addressing the issues that are within his remit in accordance with the provisions set out in the Forestry Act 1988. The most important part of the response from Coillte is that the reorganisation will allow a more integrated approach to all nature and biodiversity projects. As stated, Coillte has said there will be no diminution of the focus on that area, which is, of course, very important. I studied geography myself and understand the issues at hand here, but the more integrated approach in the wider division will ensure an holistic view. It is certainly not the intention that there would be any less focus on biodiversity and nature.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 10.20 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 10.30 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 10.20 a.m. and resumed at 10.30 a.m.