National Parks and Wildlife Service

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021

Tuesday, 19 October 2021

Questions (481)

Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

481. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total allocation in Budget 2022 for the National Parks and Wildlife Service; and the value of the increase in the allocation from the 2021 funding. [51203/21]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Malcolm Noonan)

In excess of €47.3m in funding is being provided to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in Budget 2022, including my Department's dedicated provisions, and funding to be drawn from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and Rural Recreation allocations.

In this context it should be noted that the NPWS is a constituent  line division of my Department, and its staffing and administrative costs are thus part of my Department’s overall administrative budget and not reflected in this figure. The total Exchequer funding for the NPWS in 2022, including the administrative apportionment, is therefore significantly larger.

The 2022 NPWS programme provision represents an increase of 20% when compared with the NPWS spend in 2021.