Vol. 462 No. 8
110 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht when the last seal cull was authorised in this country; and the individual permits granted by his Department on an annual basis, permitting seal culling in the past five years. [5379/96]
Seals are a protected species under the Wildlife Act, 1976, and it is an offence to hunt or kill them, save under licence or permission granted by me under that Act.
No official seal cull has been carried out since the Wildlife Act, 1976, came in to force.
Section 42 of the Wildlife Act provides, inter alia, that where damage is being caused by a protected wild animal (in this case, seals) to a fishery, the Minister may cause to be taken, by a person authorised by him, such steps including the killing of protected wild animals to stop the damage. Permissions issued under section 42 of the Act provide for the shooting of seals with in 100 metres of the fishery nets which are subject to damage. Permits are issued in response to specific applications and cover periods from one to 12 months.
The number of permits issued under section 42 of the Act in respect of seals over the past five years is as follows: 1992, five; 1993, six; 1994, eight; 1995, eight;1996, one application is being considered at present.
