Today, on Earth Day, I raise the very important issue of our pollinators. Our native Irish bees are in significant jeopardy as a result of the importation of foreign bees. The importation during the Covid-19 years increased by fivefold. Studies have shown that the rate of hybridisation in Irish colonies has increased by almost 300% over the past six years. That means our native Irish black honey bees are mating with other bees in the area. Beekeepers obviously cannot control that. They are mating and the result is a hybridisation effect. If we allow this importation to continue, particularly of yellow bees, there is a very significant risk that we are going to see the extinction of our native genetic strain of bees. This is a very important issue and there have been calls by the Native Irish Honey Bee Society to enact the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021. We had the association before the Oireachtas committee recently and we heard about the devastating effects of hybridisation. I am calling on the Minister of State to do something. The Bill passed Second Stage in the previous Dáil. It is really important that we see the passing of that Bill to protect our own bees, pollination and biodiversity in the country. I also want to raise the climate fines this country is facing. The climate advisory council and Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, outlined and warned the Government that we could face up to €26 billion in climate fines as a result of the previous Government signing very ambitious targets. Will the Minister of State outline on the floor of the Dáil what fines we are expected to face as a country as a result of these climate action targets?

Sentiment score: 0.07