Deputy Daly has arrived. I am happy to allow him to take his question first.

Sentiment score: 0.34

I am happy to let Deputy Daly go.

Sentiment score: 0.57

78. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to confirm if he has received the land use review phase 2 report; the reason he has not yet released the review; when he plans to release it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60840/25]

Sentiment score: 0.10

We are in the teeth of a climate and biodiversity crisis. An initiative the last Government took was to commission a land use review to understand how to optimise land management in this country. Has the Minister received the phase 2 report of the land use review? Why has it not been released yet? When does he plan to release it?

Sentiment score: -0.04

I am glad to hear the Minister will be publishing it. His predecessor as Minister for the environment described it as the most important project in the previous programme for Government. It is vital that it be released. I am not quite sure why the Minister is holding on to it. It is a report designed to inform policymakers and I am not sure whether the brains trust the Minister has put together are the only ones who should be looking at it. I do not know why it has not gone to the Climate Change Advisory Council. It asked in September of last year for it to be completed. It could be sent to the Oireachtas committee. It could and should be scrutinised by every stakeholder. Phase 1 of the land use review discovered that 78% of land in this country is held by private landowners. To the extent that we want to manage and plan how our land is used strategically, we have many people to bring with us. It is important they be brought into the process as soon as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.11

That is encouraging. There are many big decisions coming up that the report could inform. It is there to inform future climate action plans, some of which we have been looking at and reviewing recently at the climate committee. It strikes me it is also relevant to the nitrates derogation negotiations. It seems, based on leaks from the report, that there is talk of intensification of dairy farming in the south east of the country, where we already have huge water quality issues. We have previously discussed the issues around Lady's Island Lake this year. It is also relevant to the housing plan that will be published later this month by the Minister's colleague, the housing Minister, in terms of how and where we build, the push for councils to rezone around the country and the potential for urban sprawl where there is ad hoc building on land as farmers sell it up. It strikes me that the sooner this report is released and worked on the better because there are a lot of big decisions at the moment that will be informed by it.

Sentiment score: 0.07