Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
366. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason that he only removed four out of 15 amber- and red-list birds from the open season order; and if he will urgently act to end the persecution of all threatened species. [42443/23]
View answerA public consultation of the Open Seasons Order (OSO) was carried out in early 2023, providing all interested stakeholders, and the general public with an opportunity to input their views on policy issues. 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 other bird species and dates remain the same. My decision was based on consideration of the available scientific evidence, and with regard to the expert recommendations from the review of the public consultation.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is committed to strengthening the evidence base, such as the collection of bag statistics and increased monitoring of relevant species, that informs decision making around the OSO.
