Wildlife Rehabilitation Support Scheme: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29 ============================================================ Joe Flaherty (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I very much welcome the spirit of this motion. It would be remiss if at the outset, I did not acknowledge what Malcolm Noonan did in the lifetime of the last Dáil to raise awareness of this issue and to set in train a lot of the projects and initiatives we see under this current Government. It was with great foresight that the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, was appointed to this role. It is fair to say that he is probably one of the most passionate people in government when it comes to wildlife and the preservation of nature. While supporting the spirit of the motion, I do take some exception to the statement that the Government is doing nothing about this. Since the last Government and in the lifetime of this Government, we have never been as proactive in this area. We have to start somewhere. We have taken a stand on it, know what we have and, more importantly, know what we have lost. Anybody who comes from rural Ireland is very much aware of the challenges we face as a farming community. We are realistically looking at probably the first generation of people in Ireland who do not know where food came from and who do not know what life is like in rural Ireland. That brings its own set of problems. I welcome the spirit of the proposal. I particularly acknowledge what Malcolm Noonan did in the lifetime of the last Government. I am happy to support this and I am sure the Minister of State can certainly find value in many aspects of the proposal as well. The Minister of State was with me in Longford a number of months ago and would have seen one of the projects undertaken by Longford County Council where it produced on its own initiative a wonderful guide to local wildlife and birds. It is a beautifully illustrated book distributed to every school child in primary school right across the county. It is a wonderful initiative. I found great value in the book. I keep it in the car now and every time I see a bird, I hope to see a hawk but I have not yet seen one. Maybe the Minister of State can send a few up to me. Every time I look up and think it is a hawk, it is a bloody crow. Bring me one for a day. It is wonderful. I take the point on staff. Longford has great staff who really buy into this and see the value of it. They are very much into conservation and preservation. Probably some local authorities do not take it as seriously. This is very much a work in progress. We are not going to fix the ills and wrongs of the past 400 or 500 years overnight but we are very much a nation in transition when it comes to conservation and preservation. What was done in the last Government was hugely positive. I know the Minister of State is still relatively new in his role but I do not doubt his bona fides. I have seen him out on the ground and at conferences and I have seen him in action with regard to the Shannon Callows and all the work we need to do there. I see how enthused he is about that, about the wader project on the Shannon Callows and about bringing life back to the islands on Lough Ree, in particular restoring them as habitats and, ultimately and hopefully, as the first national inland island project. I have no doubt about his bona fides and I know he has great plans to really enhance this sector. We we all have a responsibility in this area and we cannot just play pay lip service to it. Too many parties do pay lip service to it but there is an onus on us. We have a generation of young people now who really do not know where food comes from or what it is like on a farm. That is probably a failing on our part as a society and in the way we educate our young people. We need to educate and we need to really encourage local authorities. Local authorities are good if there is a good heritage officer, a good conservation officer and good OPW staff. We are extremely lucky in Longford. We have excellent OPW staff in Longford who work very well and work in tandem with the local authority. As far as they are concerned, it is very much a work in progress. Any time, we get the Minister of State down, he is hugely supportive of the local authority. He has great interest in the projects of the local authority and gives it that additional encouragement. I know it is a slightly different issue but in terms of the building conservation works and projects, we really started to draw money down when Malcolm Noonan was there and now, thankfully, the council has really bought into it and the Minister of State is delivering on the work that Malcolm Noonan did as well. One will not find anyone in government who will take issue with what is being proposed because we agree wholeheartedly with the spirit of what is being proposed but we would like some acknowledgement of the work that is being done. Considerable work is being done, particularly by this Minister of State. As a country, we are hugely enthused with the Minister of State. I do not think one could find a better or more knowledgeable minister in Europe when it comes to this sector so I am delighted that he is here. He is the right man for the right job. We agree with the spirit of what is being proposed. I am sure the Minister of State will find a use for some of the proposals and the actions and I am sure he will expand on them himself in due time. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-29