Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 January 2024
112. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on efforts to address the issue of TB eradication with regard to deer management (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4344/24]
View answerThe available evidence shows that outside of County Wicklow the levels of TB in deer is extremely low in Ireland and it would appear that while deer may become infected with TB they may not be very infectious. However, the increasing levels of deer do pose other very real risks to both people, animals and the environment. The increased populations of deer in some part of the country has lead to a reduction in biodiversity and an increase in road traffic accidents. This is borne out by research that shows there is almost zero regeneration in over 50% of the native oak, holly and yew forests in Ireland.
In response to this my Department along with the Department of Housing and Local Government have set up the Deer Management Strategy Group to address this issue. One of the first acts of the group was a public consultation on what were the biggest issues with deer. The respondents were predominantly rural farmers and landowners. Biodiversity loss, damage to crops, damage to infrastructure, road traffic accidents and damage to forestry were the biggest concerns raised through the public consultation. In response to this a series of subcommittees were formed to address these issues. The subcommittees were composed of a wide group of stakeholders, that included members of the farmers representative groups, foresters and landowners. The groups brought a series of recommendations to the Deer Management Strategy Group.
A report was published in December 2023 that presents these recommendations and covers a wide range of issues from hunter training and forest design to land use management and the venison market. The 16 recommended actions are collated between short and medium term implementation targets.
The Deer Management Strategy Group continue to meet regularly to progress these recommendations towards implementation.
