Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
795. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to put a timeline on the phasing out of, and eventual ban of, the sale of invasive species, such as cherry laurel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1053/24]
View answerMy Department's National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is responsible for the implementation of the Wildlife Acts and the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011, both of which prohibit activities to introduce or spread invasive species.
Regulation 49(2) of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 makes it an offence to disperse, allow or cause to disperse, spread or otherwise cause to grow any plant listed in Part 1 of the Third Schedule to those Regulations.
Cherry Laurel is not a listed invasive species in Ireland nor is it included on the European list of invasive species of Union concern and there are no plans at this time to ban the species in trade.
However, work on new invasive alien species legislation is at an advanced stage and my Department is also leading on the development of a National Management Plan for Invasive Alien Species. The new legislation will update and strengthen existing regulations, particularly with regard to trade in invasive alien species.
Any review of the national list of invasive alien species will be considered in the context of this new framework. Furthermore, such a review would need to take into account existing priorities, workloads, available resources and the wider environmental impacts of the species.
In the meantime, sightings of this non-native species in the wild may be submitted to the National Biodiversity Data Centre through its online portal or mobile application, through the following link:
https://invasives.ie/what-can-i-do/report-sightings/
Submission of sightings allows for better monitoring of the impact of invasive alien species and will help inform policy decisions and effective implementation of measures to tackle such species in the coming months and years.
