Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
945. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will resend S1 421 of 2023 in order to allow for sufficient dialogue with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38913/23]
View answer967. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the rationale for the recent decision with regard to open hunting season where the position of four duck species have been taken off the list; when this decision was made; the rationale for the decision and the international status of the species involved; the consultation and communication with an organisation (details supplied) on this matter prior to the decision 25 August 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39297/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 945 and 967 together.
Under Directive 2009/147/EC (otherwise known as the Birds Directive) Ireland and other Member States are instructed to take the requisite measures to maintain the populations of wild bird at levels within their respective territories, which corresponds in particular to ecological, scientific and cultural requirements, while taking account of economic and recreational requirements, or to adapt the population of these species to those levels.
Ireland’s latest report to the EU Commission to fulfil obligations under Article 12 of the Birds Directive covers the period 2013 – 2018 and provides data on a range of Ireland’s bird species’ population sizes and trends through time. This report outlines a number of species whose estimated populations, at the national level, have undergone acute declines and/or whose populations are now relatively small. Several of these species are listed on Annex II to the Directive and 14 of the 21 species listed on the Wildlife (Wild Birds) (Open Seasons) (Amendment) Order 2012 were the subject of national-level concern, on foot of the 2019 EU Article 12 report. The change to the Open Seasons Order recently implemented has removed four of these species.
A public consultation of the OSO was carried out earlier in 2023, providing all interested stakeholders and the general public with an opportunity to input their views on policy issues. The consultation was advertised widely and had a large response rate. A separate in-person stakeholder forum was also held. Representatives from a wide range of cross cutting stakeholder groups were invited and attended the forum, including the organisation referenced. NPWS subsequently engaged external expertise to review the c. 2,500 responses to the survey on the OSO, along with the outcome of the very productive stakeholder engagement meeting held in April 2023, and to develop recommendations arising from same.
In order to ensure that the hunting of the species on the open seasons order is sustainable, and in line with Ireland’s obligations to safeguard threatened bird species and the “principles of wise use” under the EU Birds Directive, I made a decision to amend the Open Seasons Order for the 2023/2024 season to remove scaup, pochard and goldeneye due to the great decline in their numbers in Ireland; over the period 1994/95 – 2019/20, estimated declines of 89%, 79% and 67% respectively have been recorded. Pintail, the fourth of the duck species was not retained because of the uncertainty around the effect of hunting this population due to its very small size, estimated to be 1,017 individuals. All of these birds are at a tipping point and the decline in their numbers speak for themselves.
All other bird species and dates remain the same.
The extensive range of submissions received during the public consultation contained several useful recommendations and suggestions, many of which will be actioned by NPWS in the coming months.
These include
- the need for collaboration across various groups and agencies
- the need for collation of good quality, current data on bird populations and hunting activity
- recognition of the impact of habitat degradation, disturbance and climate change on bird populations
Work will be undertaken to collate and analyse data and evidence for a range of other species; this will include the systematic collection of hunting statistics and the collection of population data on all huntable bird species. In parallel, a structure for regular meetings with stakeholders via a Sustainable Hunting of Wild Birds Stakeholder Forum will be put in place. The intention is that this will assist in building, expanding and enhancing collaboration between Government, hunting organisation and bird conservation groups and that they will feed in to any further revisions of the OSO in the future.
