Legislation in this area goes back to 1977 when the Wildlife Act was enacted. That comprehensive Act was supposed to cure all the ills affecting the preservation of wildlife, but 20 years later the Act has not done anything to safeguard wildlife and habitats. I have no hesitation in saying that there have been 20 years of neglect since that legislation was passed. I have no doubt that many of the endangered species specifically mentioned in the 1977 Act are now extinct and those that remain are in more danger than ever. There has been incredible neglect in this area.
Legislation such as this will never be of use in safeguarding our wildlife unless personnel are employed to safeguard wildlife and monitor what is happening in the fields, glens, hills and lakes. I come from a county — Waterford — that is mountainous, with two large mountain ranges and much hilly country, and there is only one wildlife ranger in charge of that county, with no staff to assist him. Does the Minister believe that is satisfactory? It cannot be. This legislation is not worth much unless personnel are recruited to implement it and to monitor conservation.
The Minister said that many habitat sites and species of fauna and flora have been destroyed, degraded or seriously threatened and that that cannot continue. He said that such critical issues need to be grasped and remedial action taken. That is true, but will that be done. My experience in 20 years in this House is that it has not been done, and it will not be done. There is no evidence that the personnel whose job it is to oversee the operation will be employed. I continuously ask in this House if additional staff will be provided. There were two wildlife rangers in my county, but one of them died three years ago and was not replaced. How can monitoring take place and wildlife be protected when the staff are not available to do so? Is it envisaged that there will be dozens of wildlife rangers in each county? I asked that question before but received no reply. What is the point of passing legislation unless its provisions can be implemented? The 1977 Act was never implemented.
A difficulty I have with the legislation is that it is selective. I know that the Minister means well in introducing it, but it involves 550,000 hectares covering the Twenty-six Counties. I do not know what percentage of the land mass that is, probably less than 10 per cent, but what about the other 90 per cent? What is being done to protect wildlife in the 90 per cent not covered by the legislation? Will we continue to allow hedgerows, the natural habitats of much wildlife, particularly songbirds, to be cut and burned? Will we allow marshy land, the natural habitat of many game birds such as duck and snipe, to be drained, given that it is not included in the legislation? For years people have received grants for reclaiming bad land while the European Union pays people huge sums of money not to cultivate the best of land. It is hard to accept that we are eliminating systematically the natural habitats of our wildlife, fauna and flora while encouraging people not to till land of the best quality. That is illogical.
I previously asked the Minister whether we keep an inventory of wildlife species and he replied that we do not. That is shameful. We should have information on the number of each species, what species are endangered and why they are endangered. What is causing their numbers to fall? Irish people tend to have a genuine interest in animal life and their natural surroundings. We should enlist the services of school children to carry out surveys in their local communities. That would be a two way process. We would get the information we want and it would engender tremendous interest in wildlife in school going children.
How many goldfinches, bullfinches or chaffinches exist in the country? Are their numbers depleting on a daily basis? If so, why? We do not know the answers to these questions. The same questions could be asked about the number of linnets, wrens, thrushes and blackbirds. Are there any kingfishers left in the country? I have seen one or two, but they are few and far between. Is anybody interested in finding out this information? Why does the Department not issue a publication listing endangered or extinct species of wildlife? If we do not know the facts, how can we address the problem?
More attention was paid to the preservation of wildlife 100 years ago. At that time people took positive steps to preserve wildlife. We now live in the age of pesticides, modern methods of agriculture and industrial evolution. Wildlife is being wiped out, but we do not know the specific reasons. We do not even have figures for the varieties of wildlife being affected by agricultural development or emissions from industrial developments. Questions I have posed at Question Time, and in other debates, give the clear impression that studies on these matters are not being carried out.
This is the start of the breeding season for many species of wildlife. What measures are being taken to protect their breeding ground? Hedgerows are being cut and mountain heather will be burned even though birds are nesting and breeding there. What is being done to curtail activity that leads to the extinction of wildlife? It is demoralising to see regulations being passed without resources to support them.
The most positive aspect of these regulations is the compensation that will be paid to landowners who conserve areas of their land for wildlife to breed. However, these regulations will apply to only about 10 per cent of the country. Until such time as we carry out research into what is causing the extinction of our wildlife we will not make progress. There have been 20 years of inaction in terms of the Wildlife Act, 1977. Unless the personnel is provided to protect our habitats, the regulations before us will be meaningless. While they may have some practical effect in the west, they will not have any meaning for the rest of the country. I hope the regulations lead to a positive outcome.
