The Green Party has urged the Government to classify nature restoration projects as critical infrastructure, responding to the Climate Change Advisory Council's (CCAC) warning about the lack of funding to repair degraded habitats.

Reacting to the CCAC report, Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman said: "For too long there has been an unfair and baseless pitching of nature against progress. Nature restoration is a critical element of helping us guard homes and businesses against flooding, droughts, wildfires, coastal erosion and other effects of weather volatility caused by climate change. "It is no surprise that there isn't the money to protect nature, when the Government raided the €3 billion Climate and Nature Fund, which had been put aside to help the sort of plans like restoring habitats that the Climate Change Advisory Council has highlighted as being so important."

Green Party senator and former Minister for Nature, Malcolm Noonan, added: "It is estimated that we will need €700 million for nature restoration projects. We did leave a €650 million fund in place when we left Government, that is now gone and we share the disappointment of the CCAC that there was no new funds for nature in the budget.

"This is actual critical infrastructure. There are real benefits to this for everyone, cleaner air, greater protection, lower emissions, better biodiversity through the protection of wildlife, better food security.

"We need to see a critical rethink in Government around the importance of restoring peatlands, wetlands and coasts, hedgerows so that the country can protect itself. The fund must be immediately restored."