It is great to be here to acknowledge and mark National Biodiversity Week. It is clear in this House that there is huge interest in this as an environmental issue. It is all around us, in our hedgerows, boglands, rivers, coastlines and the native trees that have shaped the story of this island for centuries. Biodiversity is our national heritage, particularly our native Irish trees. That is not just for their environmental value, but for the history, folklore and identity attached to them. That interest has led me to start Míle Crainn Na hÉireann. That was an initiative encouraging communities, schools and families to plant native Irish trees and reconnect with their ecological heritage, spreading the knowledge and the importance of our native flora. Growing up I always loved the stories attached to our trees. One that stayed with me was that of the holly tree. Associated with strength, sportsmanship and champions, in ancient Ireland the holly symbolised endurance and leadership. It could symbolise the Fianna Fáil party as well. Cú Chulainn carries a sprig of holly and Lú the warrior god, after whom County Louth is named, made his spears from holly. It is not only attached to Fianna Fáil but to County Louth. There is something Irish about the idea that true strength is steady, protective and deeply rooted. I also think of the lone hawthorn trees standing in fields across rural Ireland. Many farmers would sooner move a road than interfere with one. Some people dismiss these traditions as superstition but there is wisdom in them. The hawthorn is one of the richest native trees we have for biodiversity. Hundreds of insect species depend on it for food and shelter, while its blossoms feed pollinators and its berries sustain the birds through winter. Long before biodiversity reports existed, communities understood that protecting those trees meant protecting life itself. Under Brehon Law, native trees were protected because they were understood to be a central part of society. Today, modern science is confirming what our ancestors already knew. Healthy ecosystems protect communities, agriculture, climate resilience and human well-being. We cannot speak honestly about biodiversity without speaking directly to our pollinators. Our native honey bee and wild pollinators are under enormous pressure of habitat loss, pesticide disease and invasive species. Without pollinators we do not have functioning ecosystems, secure food production and healthy biodiversity. That is why I call for the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill to be progressed and passed through the Dáil. This legislation is necessary. It is about protecting Ireland's native honey bee population from further decline and safeguarding biodiversity before irreversible damage is done. If we are serious about it, we need to protect pollinators. We must also recognise the importance of supporting farmers and local communities who are custodians of landscapes like the Cooley Mountains. They cannot be expected to protect biodiversity without being given the proper tools, training and financial support to do so. In places across the Cooleys, bracken is growing out of control, choking the natural growth of our native heathers and slowly changing the character of the mountains. Anyone who knows the Cooleys knows they should carry a distinctive purple plume across the hillsides in late summer. The beautiful bell heathers are unique to these uplands and so important to pollinators, wildlife and the identity of the area. If we lose that habitat through neglect or lack of support, we lose something culturally and environmentally irreplaceable. We also need to be far more serious about how we deal with invasive species. I welcome the establishment of the new invasive species bureau, but it cannot become another strategy to sit on a shelf. It has to come with proper enforcement. We need tougher inspections, stronger regulation and meaningful fines for those who continue to sell invasive plant species that damage our ecosystems and waterways. Prevention, as we all know, is cheaper than restoration and once invasive species take hold, communities are left fighting the consequences. County councils and governments are caught paying the bill. National Biodiversity Week should remind us that nature is not separate from us. It is part of who we are as a people. If we fail to protect it now, future generations will not forgive us.

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