Vol. 451 No. 8
111 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the criteria used by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to assess the game-carrying capacity of lands for which gun days are sought by tourist shoot promoters. [7350/95]
112 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the number of snipe shot in County Mayo in each of the shooting seasons 1990/1991, 1991/1992, 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 based on bag returns submitted by tourist shoot promoters. [7355/95]
113 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if his attention has been drawn to concern stemming from persons with criminal records acting as tourist shoot promoters and/or gillies, some of whom have convictions under the Wildlife Act, 1976, in view of his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 107 of 24 January 1995. [7356/95]
114 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether he has assessed the gun day carrying capacity of lands for tourist shoot promoters as indicated in his reply to parliamentary questions Nos. 106, 108 and 109 of 24 January 1995. [7357/95]
115 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht whether he has satisfied himself that there is sufficient expertise in the Wildlife Service to enable it to assess the game-carrying capacity of lands; and the professional background and training of his assessors in relation to this matter. [7368/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115 together.
The allocation of gun days to lands submitted for assessment by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is not an exact science and each case is considered on its merits. However, for rough shooting, on a general countrywide basis, lands which include a variety of habitats such as farmland, rivers, ponds, lakes, marshes and bogs, the general gunday allocation would be based on 1,000 acres per 3 guns per fortnight. However, if a considerable amount of commonage is included, the number of guns per 1,000 acres is reduced. The general rule of thumb in relation to forest lettings is approx. 140 acres per gun per fortnight. Lands submitted for assessment in respect of pigeon shooting and driven shoots are assessed individually on the estimated gun capacity of the lands. It is not possible to apply general criteria in these cases.
I recently asked the NPWS to review the question of gunday allocations for 1993-94. I can now confirm that the 7,365 gundays allocated in the 1993/94 season, and referred to in my reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 106, 108 and 109 of 24 January 1995, were assessed by the NPWS in accordance with the above criteria. In the cases where maps were not supplied, other information in the form of leases and lists was supplied which enabled assessment to be completed. I have issued strict instructions to the NPWS that no gundays are to be allocated for the 1995-96 season unless adequate maps are supplied.
|
Season |
|
|
1992/93 |
1,172 |
|
1993/1994 |
1,392 |
|
1994/1995 |
Being compiled |
