Taoiseach promises National Parks and Wildlife Service will be beefed up

Ireland's six national parks, such as Killarney, are at risk of further deterioration, report says. File picture: Valerie O'Sullivan
The Taoiseach has insisted the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) "will be well and truly enhanced in terms of resources and its status", despite promised reform dragging on for months.
Micheál Martin told the Dáil the NPWS would be beefed up by the end of the current Government term. He was responding to criticism over inaction on the biodiversity crisis and the still-unpublished report on reform of the NPWS by Social Democrats climate spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore.