asked the Minister for Finance the basis upon which he deems it appropriate to grant licences to hunt otters; the number of such licences which have been granted in each of the last ten years; the organisations or groups to whom such licences have been granted; the conditions which are attached to the granting of such licences; and the way in which such conditions are supervised.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Otter Hunting Licences.
10.
1. Section 26 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, provides for the issue of licences to hunt otters.
2. For each of the years 1978 to 1988, inclusive, four licences were issued to the following: (i) Cork City Otter Hunt; (ii) Bride View Otter Hunt; (iii) Bride Valley Otter Hunt; (iv) Desmond Otter Hunt.
3. The conditions which attach to such licences are as follows: (i) Every effort shall be made to avoid killing the otter and in the event of the otter being cornered in the course of a hunt the pack shall be driven off. Pregnant otters and otters with young shall not be hunted; (ii) A meet may not be fixed for a particular stretch of river more than twice per season with at least a two-month period between the meets; (iii) The water level and/or density of cover must be such as to provide adequate protection for the otter; (iv) Any signs of river pollution or any such irregularities observed during hunting shall be reported to the local wildlife officer; (v) Notice of all meets shall be published in advance in a locally circulated newspaper by the master in charge of the said hunt. In addition, five working days advance notice of all meets shall be given to the nominated regional wildlife officer, as appropriate; (vi) On expiry of this licence, a return, giving the dates, the numbers and location (stretch of river) of meets held and otters killed (if any) during the period specified in this licence, shall be made to the Wildlife Service, Office of Public Works, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2; (vii) The licence may be withdrawn by the Minister at any time.
4. Enforcement of the conditions of the licence is carried out by authorised officers appointed under section 72 of the Wildlife Act, 1976.
Can the Minister tell us how many kills were reported during the last hunting season?
Nine kills.
Given that information and in view of the fact that this type of hunting, unlike fox or harrier hunting, requires the issuing of a licence carrying stringent conditions and which are patently unenforceable having regard to the number of kills reported, would the Minister consider refusing to issue such licences in the future?
I give all applications every consideration before issuing any licences and before issuing any further licences I will give all applications every consideration.
(Limerick East): Can the Minister tell us whether the otter population is rising or falling at present?
There are no statistics on the otter population available but the information which we have received from our wildlife officers around the country is that there is a very healthy number of otters in the country and on that basis judicious hunting is allowed.