Written Answers. - Badger Research Programme.
Trevor Sargent
Question:
305
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
the plans, if any, her Department has in providing for the introduction of alternatives to snaring badgers; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[4003/99]
Trevor Sargent
Question:
306
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
the number of badgers snared following the issuing of licences by her to the Department of Agriculture and Food; the number which will be destroyed in the future; the percentage of those animals which are lactating sows; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[4004/99]
Trevor Sargent
Question:
307
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
the number of licences issued by her Department to the Department of Agriculture and Food to allow for snaring of badgers in counties Cork, Kilkenny and Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[4005/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 305 to 307, inclusive, together.
Licences are issued by Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department, under section 23 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, to facilitate an ongoing research programme by the Department of Agriculture and Food in relation to bovine tuberculosis in cattle and badgers. The provisional figure for the number of badgers snared under licence by the Department of Agriculture and Food in 1998 is 2,475. There are no definitive figures available for the number of lactating sows included in this figure but recent sample surveys undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food indicate the figure is less than 10 per cent of the total number of females snares. Most of these lacating females were snared at the end of the lactation period in April or May. The number of licences issued in respect of Counties Cork, Kilkenny and Monaghan in 1998 is 38, 26 and seven respectively.
It is not possible at this stage to predict the number of badgers to be snared in the future under the Department of Agriculture and Food's research programme and I have no plans at present for the introduction of alternatives to snaring badgers. However, the research programme by the Department of Agriculture and Food is subject to review on an annual basis by officials of both Departments.
The Deputy will be aware that, as Minister, my prime responsibility in this area relates to wildlife conservation and I have no function in animal welfare. In this context, I have sought to balance the clearly established need for further scientific research for the purposes of the TB eradication programme with my statutory responsibilities for the protection of the badger under the Wildlife Act, 1976. Recent extensive research funded by Dúchas and the Department of Agriculture and Food estimated a national badger population of 200,000. I am satisfied that the current research programme will have little effect on the national population and poses no threat to the conservation of this species. This is not to ignore the unpalatable fact that badgers will be killed in the course of ongoing scientific research. However, on balance, I am of the view that the needs and benefits of the current research programme, both for the cattle and badger populations, in relation to our understanding of TB and the mechanics involved in its transmission among and between species must outweigh the limited casualties among the badger population. I understand that this research programme also provides for development work on a vaccine for badgers which will, if successful, ultimately provide considerable dividends for the badger population in its own right, which is also subject to tuberculosis.
