Today, the European Court of Justice found Ireland guilty of failing to protect nature, failing to provide legal protection for 217 of 423 sites identified as special areas of conservation, failing to define detailed site-specific conservation objectives for 140 of 423 sites and failing to provide adequate conservation measures. This is an absolute disgrace. It has been ongoing for 20 years. These sites were identified 19 years ago and the Government has had six years to write it into law. The determination today shows that the green credentials of this Government are in tatters. Will the Minister tell me what the Government will do to address these issues and deal with the fact that we are in breach of EU legislation when it comes to protecting nature here?

I have not seen the detail of today's report yet. However, I assure the Deputy that the Government puts massive stock in and prioritises the need to restore nature and the need to protect our environment. In terms of our actions, we have taken the historic step of putting in place targets for emissions reductions in legislation. We have also set targets that show how the country can lead on reducing emissions and taken a coherent, progressive approach to the nature restoration laws which are currently coming through the EU. We have a real and clear focus on this. I assure the Deputy that we will look to work our way towards addressing any judgments or outstanding issues, because we put real value on ensuring that the undoubted regression we have seen over the past generation or two in the context of biodiversity and the environment around us is reversed.

The European Court of Justice says differently.