Deputy Roger Garland gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of the legal shooting of white fronted geese. The matter is in order.
Adjournment Debate. - Shooting of White-fronted Geese.
Thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to bring up this important matter. I am sharing my time on this with Deputy Gilmore of The Workers' Party.
Is that satisfactory? Agreed.
I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Daly, to urgently reconsider his decision to reopen the shooting season for the Greenland white fronted goose in County Wexford. The season opened yesterday and continues until January so it is not too late for him to act.
Does the Minister realise he has an international responsibility under EC law to ensure the survival of this species? With over half the world's population of geese wintering in Ireland, the future of these geese is heavily dependent on this country. It is indeed, gratifying that the population has increased significantly since shooting was prohibited on the breeding grounds in Greenland and in the wintering grounds in Scotland and Ireland. The Minister's unilateral decision to reintroduce goose shooting in Ireland undermines the growing international co-operation on conservation of these migratory birds.
I have received representations from the Irish Wildbird Conservancy in this matter. These are very reasonable people. They are not head bangers or fanatics. They represent ordinary people throughout Ireland and they include shooting interests as well. The IWC are not anti-shooting so I think the Minister should take into consideration what they want. They tell me they wrote to the Minister of State on 14 September last seeking a meeting, a very reasonable thing for them to do. That was six weeks ago. Up to yesterday, they informed me, they had not even the courtesy of a reply. This is scandalous behaviour but it is typical of the attitude of this Minister who proved himself to be totally incompetent and stubborn in his handling of the rod licence dispute. Nevertheless I appeal to him, even at this late stage to act at once in this matter.
I thank Deputy Garland for agreeing to share his time with me. I appreciate that what we are seeking to do here, which is to remove the Greenland white-fronted goose from the open seasons order for 1989-90, effectively would involve a reversal of an earlier decision by the Minister. I appreciate always the reluctance to reverse decisions that are made.
Nevertheless a very reasoned and careful case has been made for this by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy. That case comes down to four points. The first is that Ireland, as the major wintering ground for these geese, has a particular international responsibility for their conservation. This international responsibility is underlined in the EC birds directive 409 of 1979 which lists the Greenland white-fronted goose in Annex 1 and requires the Irish Government to take special conservation measures concerning their habitat in order to ensure their survival. Internationally efforts are being made in this direction to protect the species. The Greenland Government, for example, do not allow the hunting of the goose and in Scotland the species is protected from hunting in their wintering grounds. Wexford is a particularly important wintering ground where 40 per cent of the species are to be found. Therefore, by allowing the goose to be hunted and shot we are very much out of line with the international response to the protection of this species.
Secondly, it has been argued that what is involved here is a limited cull of the bird. However, it would be virtually impossible to control that limited cull. We are informed it is intended to limit the shooting of the birds to 450, but how can they be sure it can be limited to that? Who is going to control it, particularly outside the Wexford Slobs? How can we be sure those controls will be applied? Thirdly, it has been argued that one of the reasons associated with this is that the birds may be a nuisance for certain agricultural activity.
I suggest to the Minister that there were other remedies open to him, for example, the granting of licences under the Wildlife Act for the controlled scaring of the birds from sensitive crops. That was a remedy which was open to him rather than the remedy he has taken. Fourthly, there is an ultimate remedy which will have to be taken in this case and which relates to the provision of safe refuges for the birds. The long term conservation of the population requires safeguarding of wetland and peatland habitats which are diminishing at an alarming rate and the creation of further reserve lands in Wexford. The Irish Wildbird Conservancy have already invested heavily in conservation by buying land on the Wexford Slobs to safeguard the birds. The current plan to extend the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve by the purchase of extra land jointly by the Irish Wildlife Service and the Irish Wildbird Conservancy will be undermined by the reintroduction of shooting of the geese.
Finally, it is regrettable that the Minister seems to be treating this particular species as a problem rather than regarding it as a resource which can be developed. There is considerable potential in the area of tourism and education, apart altogether from the intrinsic value of the species to our Irish wildlife heritage, for development by protecting the species rather than by taking measures which ultimately will lead to a reduction in the population of the species. This species is one of the smallest and most vulnerable populations of geese wintering in this country. To allow the geese to be shot will have very serious consequences for the protection of the species and although it is very much at the thirteenth hour I join Deputy Garland in appealing to the Minister to reverse the earlier decision he has made and to respond positively to the very reasonable case which has been put to him by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy.
I thank Deputy Gilmore for his very reasonable contribution. I will certainly take the points he has raised into account. In relation to Deputy Garland, I would like, at the outset, to clear up some misunderstanding that may have arisen between himself and those who communicated with me regarding my meeting with the Irish Wildbird Conservancy. I indicated, through my office, to a responsible member of the council who was in touch with us to set up that meeting that I was willing to arrange a suitable date for the meeting. At the request of the conservancy that meeting was delayed because it was not suitable. The postponement of the meeting, which would have taken place before now, was not at my request but at the request of a responsible member of the conservancy who has been in touch with my office in relation to that meeting. I would like if Deputy Garland would withdraw the serious allegation he has made here this afternoon about this particular issue which is totally without foundation. It is the second time today he has done that. I would expect that in the meantime he would have taken the trouble to check the facts and at least have the courtesy to withdraw an allegation which for my part is totally unjustified and unfounded.
The Wexford Wildfowl Reserve which is a statutory nature reserve under the Wildlife Act is jointly owned by the Wildlife Service of the Office of Public Works, which holds 75 per cent of the land, and the Irish Wildbird Conservancy which owns the remainder. The populations of Greenland white-fronted geese consist of small flocks located in Donegal and along the west coast of the Shannon in my own constituency of Clare. The main feeding grounds for the Greenland white-fronted geese are in the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve and the Wexford Harbour area generally.
In 1982, as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, I was extremely concerned at the decline in the number of geese throughout Ireland mainly due to pressure from shooting and I decided to introduce a three-year moratorium on the shooting of the species. Subsequently in 1985-86 limited shooting was reopened for one season on a trial basis in County Wexford. However the shooting ban was reintroduced in 1986-87 and was maintained during 1987-88 and 1988-89.
Population counts of Greenland Whitefronts are carried out annually by the Wildlife Service personnel. These counts show that populations in Wexford have steadily increased from approximately 6,000 in 1982 to over 10,000 in 1989 which is regarded as satisfactory from the conservation aspect. This increase is due mainly to good grass management in the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve and lack of disturbance from shooting pressure for several seasons. On the basis of the steady increase in populations and comprehensive research by the Wildlife Service, it was clearly evident that goose populations could sustain a limited shoot in the 1989-90 season only in the Wexford area and with no extension of shooting in any other areas of the country. I would like to state that I am fully aware of the national and international conservation requirements and responsibilities which I have in this area.
I must point out that the recent population level in Wexford is, according to my best scientific advice and professional advisers, reaching the limit which the Wildfowl Reserve can adequately accommodate for feeding purposes. In recent years the increasing populations have spread out to adjoining farmland causing complaints from local farmers of damage to agricultural crops despite the excellent grassland management programmes on the areas covered by the reserve. Developments are taking place which I hope can alleviate this problem in the future.
The Wildlife Service has almost completed the purchase of a further 207 acres of land to add to the existing Wexford Wildlife Reserve of 272 acres. The new area will therefore total 479 acres. This purchase is being funded on a 50 per cent basis by the European Commission. As in the case of the existing reserve the Irish Wildbird Conservancy is joining with the Wildlife Service again on a 25 per cent share in the purchase of the new land. It is hoped to take possession of the extra land within the coming five or six weeks.
Bearing in mind all factors involved, including the fact that the population in Wexford can at this stage sustain legitimate rational exploitation, I am satisfied that a limited controlled shoot can continue during the 1989-90 season. This shoot is permitted for a period of 10 weeks from 1 November 1989 to 1 January 1990 subject to an overall limit of 450 geese. Shooting will cease if that limit is reached before 1 January 1990.
Strict conditions concerning the distribution and regulation of shooting are being applied by Wildlife Service personnel with the co-operation of the gun clubs in the Wexford area. The shooting is limited principally to the Wexford Slob and to the harbour areas. I should add at this stage that I am meeting with the Irish Wildbird Conservancy. I am fully aware of their views in this matter and I will discuss it further with them. I will be prepared to listen to any reasonable arguments such as we have had from Deputy Gilmore this afternoon. I want to assure the Deputy that the evidence from the past indicates that we have had the fullest co-operation of the gun clubs and the wild fowlers who have frequented that area down through the years. When there was a previous limited shoot it was fully complied with and adhered to. We have had very responsible wildfowlers in that area.
Finally I should like to say that my decision in this matter was made on the basis of the professional, technical and scientific advice which I got from my staff in the Department. My decision was not as a result of any pressure from gun clubs or from anybody else. It was based purely on the best possible scientific and professional advice I have available to me. I am satisfied that this decision was the correct one to make and that decision remains.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 3 November 1989.