Collated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the report shows that over 90 per cent of the recommendations of the CABL and the CYPABL are considered to be either implemented or in progress, meaning that elements of the recommendations are incorporated into existing Government policies and strategies, such as the National Biodiversity Action Plan.
Commenting on the report, Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, said: “The work of the Citizens’ Assembly and the Children and Young People’s Assembly showed very clearly why we need to take an ‘all-of-government, all-of-society’ approach to reversing biodiversity loss. Deliberative democracy is a powerful tool for society to explore complex problems from new perspectives, and the insights that the Assemblies presented were enormously beneficial in helping the Government to shape a new National Biodiversity Action Plan for Ireland. We made great efforts to work collaboratively, across Departments, and to deeply consider the recommendations that they made. The report being published today shows that we have listened: over 90 per cent of them are either implemented, or in progress.
“It’s vital that voices from all across society are reflected in our policymaking processes. I’m proud that this is the case for Ireland’s biodiversity policy, and I think it’s stronger for it. Others agree too: our National Biodiversity Action Plan was among a selection of national policies recently assessed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and, believe it or not, it was found to be the best in Europe and one of the best in the world. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is! I’d like to thank the members of the Citizens’ Assembly and the Children and Young People’s Assembly for all their amazing work.”