Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 10 May 1990

Vol. 398 No. 6

Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers - Wildfowl Sanctuary.

Edward Nealon

Question:

7 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Annagh Island in Lough Conn is a much favoured habitat for wild geese during the winter and spring months; that the owner of the island has it preserved as a sanctuary for wildfowl and has prohibited all shooting; that the great numbers of wild geese coming to the island and eating the grass curtails the value of the 60 acres as farming land; and if he will consider making a contribution from his Department by way of fertiliser as was done in the past in order to encourage the maintenance of the island as a sanctuary.

Mr. Daly

I am aware that Annagh Island in Lough Conn is a valuable wintering site for the Greenland white-fronted goose. I have asked the Wildlife Service of my Department to consider the feasibility of drawing up a management agreement with the owner with a view to the protection of this species on the island.

Mr. Noonan

(Limerick East): Have the officials of the Minister's office, attached to the Department of Finance, given him an estimate of how much grass an adult wild goose would eat during the winter and spring months?

Mr. Daly

I do not have that information but I can assure the Deputy that it is quite considerable and has caused quite an amount of annoyance to farmers adjoining the area. In 1984 the owner was given a tonne of fertilisers by the wildlife service in respect of his tolerance of the geese.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I think we will move to pastures new.

Mr. Noonan

(Limerick East): I wish to ask an environmental question. Has the Minister's Department advised him that it can be injurious to the health of geese to pick up fertiliser pellets when they are eating grass in circumstances such as the Minister outlined in his reply?

Mr. Daly

Certain fertilisers are not in pellet form but I will not go into the fertilisers business here——

Tomás Mac Giolla

We are very much into the feritiliser business here.

Mr. Daly

We are aware of the importance of the white-fronted goose and the preservation of its habitat. About 200 white-fronted geese have spent the winter in this area since 1982. It is a very important site and one in which we would like to have a management arrangement with the owner. We are prepared to discuss that with him if he is agreeable.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

We will now leave the wild geese and fly to Europe.