Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
336. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the cull of seagulls which was permitted on a pilot basis in Balbriggan proved a success; whether an extension into other areas where over-invasion of residential areas is occurring, could be considered where these birds are clearly moving out of their natural habitat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33448/23]
View answer350. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to several Parliamentary Questions of 13 June 2023, in particular where he provided additional information not actually sought in the questions viz that "Matters relating to prohibiting the feeding of wild birds; correctly disposing of rubbish on our streets to make them less attractive and to discourage them from congregating in particular areas; any warning signage or publicity campaigns in relation to same is a matter for the local authority concerned.", if he is aware of and if he accepts or rejects the expert advice on urban gull ecology as provided to his predecessor's Consultative Committee on Urban Gulls, which stated the primary reasons for which gulls are colonising towns and cities (details supplied). [33550/23]
View answer351. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will address a specific matter (details supplied). [33551/23]
View answer352. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is applying a decision threshold in relation to the control of urban gull species (herring gulls) whereby they must pose a threat to public health and safety in densely populated urban areas in order to be included in the Annual derogation Declarations; if he will set out the specific evidential criteria being applied by his Department or the NPWS when deciding whether or not such a threat exists; and the reason that when such a threat has been recognised by his Department or the NPWS, for example, in Balbriggan, that the only action it has taken is to declare the threat in the annual declarations, when it is in fact a duty of the State to act proactively to protect citizens and public health and safety. [33552/23]
View answer353. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will address a series of queries (details supplied). [33553/23]
View answer364. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he agrees that when a Government Department confirms a recurring threat to public health and safety for the first time there should be a clear and distinct public administration response from said Department and from relevant executive agencies, and as the Minister - on the advice of his Department or the NPWS legally declared in July 2022, and again in April 2023, that high density urban gull colonies are a threat to the health and safety of the people of Balbriggan, a town of circa 25,000 citizens, if he will assure the Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service's (NPWS) over-arching role and responsibilities include policy, direction of appropriate executive agencies actions, and review of implementation, especially where public health and safety is threatened, and that the Department or the NPWS also retains a proactive role and procedural and reporting mechanisms for ensuring that effective reduction of the threat is being achieved by the executive agencies, and that all of these activities are encompassed in accurate and timely advice to the Minister from his Department or the NPWS. [33662/23]
View answer365. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he agrees that when a Government Department confirms a recurring threat to public health and safety for the first time there should be a clear and distinct public administration response from said Department and from relevant executive agencies, and as the Minister - on the advice of his Department or the NPWS legally declared in July 2022, and again in April 2023, that high density urban gull colonies are a threat to the health and safety of the people of Balbriggan, a town of circa 25,000 citizens, if he will provide copies of the formal correspondence between his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Fingal County Council regarding the above threat since he made the legal declaration in July 2022. [33663/23]
View answer367. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), in particular where he provided additional information not actually sought in the questions viz that "Matters relating to prohibiting the feeding of wild birds; correctly disposing of rubbish on our streets to make them less attractive and to discourage them from congregating in particular areas; any warning signage or publicity campaigns in relation to same is a matter for the local authority concerned.", will he advise as to relative extent to which his Department believes feeding of gulls in urban areas is responsible for the rapid proliferation of high density breeding (i.e. not just "congregating" per his reply) colonies as evidenced in his Department/NPWS's National Urban Gull Survey 2021, compared to i) the lack of predators compared to natural sea habitats, ii) ideal breeding conditions compared to natural sea habitats, iii) almost blanket legal protection for decades, iv) no resistance from humans compared to other wild bird species, and v) limitless food opportunities in the species typical 50k daily foraging range (seaward, rural and urban) as advised by the UK expert on urban gull ecology that was consulted by his predecessor's Consultative Committee on Urban gulls in 2019. [33666/23]
View answer368. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied) particularly the part of his reply where he provided "Details of key elements of the evidence base that were available to NPWS to inform the Wild Birds Declarations 2023-2024”, can he note that none of the evidence sources that he quoted address the question asked, viz will he provide the evidence considered, accepted and rejected by his Department in respect of the species listed for control for reasons of public health and safety, and the sources and dates thereof, and will he instruct his Department to provide the information requested, such that will allow an objective and transparent analysis and comparison of the decision criteria used across all species or evidence. [33667/23]
View answer369. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will he explain why his Department/National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, is applying a decision threshold in relation to the control of urban gull species (herring gulls) whereby they must pose a threat to public health and safety in densely populated urban areas in order to be included in the annual derogation declarations, and will he set out the specific evidential criteria being applied by his Department/NPWS when it is deciding whether or not such a threat exists, and will he explain why, when such a threat has been recognised by his Department/NPWS, for example, in Balbriggan, that the only action it has taken is to declare the threat in the annual declarations, when it is in fact a duty of the State to act proactively to protect citizens and public health and safety. [33668/23]
View answer370. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is he aware that the coastal city of Malaga, Spain, EU member state, population 569,005 in 2016, which has a surveyed population of 3,200 gulls, that is, a ratio of one gull to 177 people, provides a service to its residents as part of an "Environmental Health Service" (details supplied) via a phone-based app or a free phone service to have gull nests and eggs or injured gulls removed in order to protect its citizens from aggressive attack and or injury by gulls, and will he compare that basic public health and safety service in another EU member state, under the same legislation as applies in Ireland, to the complete lack of a response to urban gulls issues here in Ireland, for example, in Balbriggan, population 23,000 people, gull population 3,000 per NPWS's survey 2021, or a ratio of one gull to eight people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33669/23]
View answer371. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is he aware that Natural England, NE, the public body responsible for nature protection in England, implemented in 2022 a joint initiative with the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, DEFRA, that was commenced in 2000, whereby Local Authorities across England which have public health and safety issues with urban gull colonies are granted, subject to submission of an acceptable gull management plan to NE, 'Organisational Licences' which empower them to control urban gulls in order to preserve public health and safety under the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, legislation which the UK implemented in order to comply with the 1979 EU Birds Directive, and will he inform the Deputy whether his Department intends to protect public health and safety in our cities and towns that are being negatively impacted by high density urban gull colonies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33670/23]
View answer372. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied) particularly the part of his reply were he provided "Details of key elements of the evidence base that were available to NPWS to inform the Wild Birds Declarations 2023-2024", in particular the evidence provided via his Department's National Urban Gull Survey, Keogh, N. T. and Lauder, A. W., 2021, is he aware of the serious public concerns now widespread in areas with regard to serious urban gull issues, and given the warnings about the risk of such concerns with regard to said areas in his Department's 2021 survey, that is, two years ago, will he explain to the Deputy why the people of Drogheda have still not been afforded protection of public health and safety in the Annual Declarations. [33671/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 336, 350 to 353, inclusive, 364, 365 and 367 to 372, inclusive, together.
All birds in Ireland, in the first instance, are protected by both EU and Irish law. Derogations from the law may be sought in the form of licences or general Declarations. The management of gulls on private property is a matter for the relevant property owner. For the sake of clarification, I would like to clarify that no cull of gulls has been permitted, or carried out.
As highlighted in that 2021 Irish Wildlife Manual Urban Gulls report, there are a myriad of factors which may influence the presence or absence of urban nesting gulls (including proximity to known/historical breeding sites, to waterbodies, distance from the sea). Anthropogenic factors supporting urban nesting gulls include the abundance of food in these urban/suburban areas; suitability of some structure/building as nesting locations, and conversely, increased pressures in the marine environment, such as commercial fishing limiting foraging opportunities for many seabirds, seabird bycatch, and climate change effects on availability of key prey species.
As set out in the relevant urban gulls and seabird reports provided, the conservation status of herring gull for example, has not been secure in the past (i.e. previously Red-listed). While the most recent 2021 Birds Of Conservation Concern in Ireland update, has seen the Herring Gull move from the Red to Amber list, it along with Lesser Black-backed Gull remain on that list due to breeding population and/or range declines of between 25- 49% for that ‘Amber’ category
The State-wide Wild Bird Declaration allows for the control of certain protected wild birds by removal of the nest or eggs of those species in Balbriggan without going through the licence application process. There are no current plans to expand the current Declaration to include other areas outside of Balbriggan as there is no evidence to suggest that this derogation has had any significant impact on the activity of gulls nesting on private properties. The NPWS does not hold any statistics in relation to the numbers of nests or eggs that were removed in Balbriggan under the Wild Bird Declarations, though anecdotal evidence suggests that very few individuals carried out this activity.
There was a change in the wording of the Wild Bird Declaration in 2022 that replaced the term ‘Public Health’, anywhere it was used in the Declaration, with ‘Public Health & Safety’. This was to bring the wording in line with Article 9 of the EU Birds Directive, it was not a change in the status of the threat level regarding any of the Birds listed.
I understand that other Countries may be taking different approaches when dealing with various bird species.
Matters relating to prohibiting the feeding of wild birds; correctly disposing of rubbish on our streets to make them less attractive and to discourage them from congregating in particular areas; any warning signage or publicity campaigns in relation to same is a matter for the relevant Local Authority.
