National Parks and Wildlife Service

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 January 2016

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Questions (490)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Question:

490. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she is aware of the grievance within some rural communities that responsibility for sporting and leisure activities such as dog trials, shooting and game hunting in bogs and other State owned lands passed from the Land Commission to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2000 without any consultation; and if she will ensure that the concerns of those rural communities are heard and acted upon. [2230/16]

Written answers

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

The Irish Land Commission was dissolved in 1992 and I understand that its successor in law is the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In 1988, the then Irish Land Commission nominally transferred management of shooting rights to the Wildlife Service, which is now the National Parks and Wildlife Service, a constituent part of my Department. I am not aware of any specific grievances within rural communities in the context of state-owned shooting rights, but I would certainly ask my Department to examine any such grievances brought to my attention.