Having a public herb garden in Dublin City is not something to "spend any energy on", according to a wildlife expert.

This week, Dublin City Council published a survey on ideas for city food strategy – including the option to have more public herb gardens across the city.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this week, wildlife expert Eanna Ní Lamhna said she thinks DCC should spend their energy on something "that needs it more".

"Growing herbs, of all things, must be the most easy thing in the world," she said. "You could grow herbs in a wee pot in front of your window."

"People can have community gardens and do it themselves. Why are we asking the council to grow herbs?

"The council have enough to be doing. They do lovely flowerbeds and they do great big things that we can't do, that we get great pleasure out of."

Parks

Ms Ní Lamhna said there are already herbs available in a large number of parks in Dublin City.

"If you walk around Stephen's Green, there's an area there with beautiful smelly things and lots of herbs," she said.

"I don't know that the people who want to eat herbs aren't able to grow them."

Ms Ní Lamhna said councils growing things for the public is "fine", but asking for a herb garden "is a step too far".

"Would you walk off to a public park somewhere just to find some parsley?" she said.

Biodiversity

Anything that the bees like would be good for biodiversity, including the herbs, Ms Ní Lamhna said.

"Those lovely purple flowers that you get on rosemary and sage and lavender, they're full of bees," she said.

"Of all the things to be asking to grow, every supermarket you go into there's pots of herbs – all you have to do is bring them home."

Ms Ní Lamhna said Dublin City Council's pledge to stop cutting grass verges is a better way of encouraging biodiversity.

"We have loads of places where there are flowers where it was just grass before – that's just excellent," she said.

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