Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 March 2019
365. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of licences issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, to cull badgers in counties Roscommon and Galway in 2017 and 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12454/19]
View answerMy Department issues licences to the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine under Section 23 of the Wildlife Acts 1976 - 2018 to take, capture and release for vaccination purposes or to capture and humanely kill badgers.
While each such licences can operate for periods other than one calendar year and may cover areas other than on a county basis, it can be said that in both 2017 and 2018 a licence under section 23 was in operation in respect of Counties Roscommon and Galway.
While the individual licences issued by my Department do not specify the number of badgers that may be culled, in each area, it is understood that details in this regard are available from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
