On behalf of the Green Party I would like to join with the tributes paid to Ciara Mageean. She is a loss to athletics and a loss to our country.

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has been meeting in Yerevan in Armenia for the last two weeks under the theme of taking action for nature. The conclusions from this annual meeting were stark. In its State of Biodiversity Action report, the secretariat of the convention determined that fewer than half of national biodiversity improvement targets were reported as being on track. Here in Ireland we see similar threats to nature. Last year, the Central Statistics Office found that between 2006 and 2019, 2.7% of species were no longer found to exist in the State. They are described now as being "regionally extinct". It also found that 14.7% of species were considered "at risk of extinction". Bees were among the most endangered. About 3% of bee species were regionally extinct and 30% were threatened. It is bees I want to focus on today.

In the last government, the Green Party took steps to protect one species of bee, the native Irish honey bee. With the agreement of the government, which the Taoiseach was part of, a Green Party Private Members' Bill, the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill passed all stages in the Seanad. That Bill is now awaiting its Second Stage debate here in the Dáil. The Taoiseach may recall that at the centre of the law is a proposal to stop the import of non-native honey bee queens into Ireland to prevent the hybridisation of the native Irish honey bee. Recent research shows that up to 25% of honey bees in Irish are now non-native - a big jump in a short period of time. Research was commissioned by the Department of agriculture to support the Bill, with the final report delivered to the Minister's desk in September 2025. That is over a year ago now.

I raised the matter with the Minister for agriculture three weeks ago and he was not able to give me clarity on when that research will be published. There is also no clarity on whether the Government will continue the policy of the last government, support the ban on the importation of non-native honey bees and protect the unique characteristics of the Irish honey bee. There is a lot of support for this Bill from Deputies and Senators in government and also in opposition. I want to work with the Taoiseach and the Minister for agriculture to get this important proposal over the line but it would help to have clarity on two specific points. First, when will the research about the native Irish honey bee, which is sitting on the Minister for agriculture's desk, be published? Second, does the Taoiseach support the central plank of my Bill, to protect the native Irish honey bee, and will he work with me to get this Bill passed during this Dáil?

I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, who was in Yerevan in respect of the biodiversity COP and led the way in respect of a number of issues there. He has done a fine job, generally speaking, such is his love for all things to do with nature, and he shows his enthusiasm for that. Over the past five years - Deputy O'Gorman was in the Government - we have substantially enhanced the National Parks and Wildlife Service. I think we have more than doubled the team working there. We have developed and designated a number of new national parks, and I hope that over the next year or two we will be in a position to designate more national parks and to enhance our resources for biodiversity more generally. It is a subject I am very keen on and interested in and one I have overseen with a particular focus on the well-being of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and I continue to do so as Taoiseach.

In respect of the native Irish honeybee Bill, I share, generally speaking, the Deputy's objectives and aspirations. A memo came to the Government last week on the matter. I better be careful. I was going to say the matter is not black and white but, as the Deputy knows, that is the unique characteristic of the native Irish honeybee.

Can it sting?

In any event, there are about 330 imports, I think, into the Republic. We have thousands into the North of Ireland. That creates a problem for us. If things continue for the next 50 years, we potentially face the extinction of the native Irish honeybee. We will have to watch the legal framework and make sure anything we do is in conformity with EU frameworks and so on.

In short, I am willing to work with the Deputy. I sought the research on the native Irish honeybee myself and read it very quickly over recent days. I am concerned about its prospects over a 50- to 70-year timeframe. We need to do something in respect of protecting it. The imports have come a way down. There was a substantial increase during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is interesting, but they have come back down to what might be called manageable levels for the moment. We have no control over that into the future in terms of higher volumes of imports. We should increase consumer awareness of our native honeybee and the product from it, which is far better honey, health-wise and well-being-wise, for all of us, as opposed to imports. My understanding is that the research will be published without delay. I will talk to the Minister for agriculture on that. The deliberative process is not totally over but effectively over. I will work with the Deputy to see how we can progress this issue.

I welcome the Taoiseach's concern on the issue. Having read the research, he is clearly even more up to date with the real threat that exists to the Irish honeybee. This is not just a question of protecting nature; it is a question of our country's food security. As regards the Irish honeybee and its hybridisation, which we see at the moment, this process risks ending a unique genetic resource that has evolved very specifically towards the Irish climate. This process puts our bee population at risk, and there are consequences of that for food production and plant diversity. Those consequences are absolutely enormous, and even if they are over a 50- to 70-year timeframe, that is still hugely consequential.

There is a proposal on the table. There is actually legislation drafted. It has passed the Seanad; it just has to pass this House. I ask the Taoiseach specifically on my Bill whether he is willing to support it. I am not precious - we can amend it - but will he use that as a vehicle to face this real threat to the native Irish honeybee?

As I said, I am very concerned about it in terms of the future. I agree 100% with the Deputy that it is inextricably bound up with our overall sustainability, biodiversity, food chain and so on. There are some issues and hurdles we would have to jump. I would be prepared to work with the Deputy and I will ask our colleague, the Minister, Deputy Heydon, as well to engage with Deputy O'Gorman in relation to this and how we can navigate this particular issue. I pay tribute also to our former ambassador in Paris, Niall Burgess, who has been a great champion of the native Irish honeybee and who briefed me quite a number of years ago on the intricacies of this issue. It is a very serious issue, so I am very much focused on helping.

That concludes Leaders' Questions. Just before I move to the Order of Business, I too add my voice to pay sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Ciara Mageean. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.