Paudge Connolly
Ceist:123 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the frequency with which badger traps are checked in areas selected for badger culling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26977/03]
Written Answers. - Badger Culling.
Paudge Connolly
Ceist:124 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the criteria used in the selection of areas for badger culling; the number and locations of such areas in Counties Monaghan and Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26978/03]
Paudge Connolly
Ceist:125 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will reconsider and suspend proposed badger culls on the lands of a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan and in other areas in which culls are proposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26979/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 to 125, inclusive, together.
Badgers are removed following the issue of a licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. A condition of the licence is that the restraints are checked at least once every 24 hours. In my Department's wildlife programme the protocols for removing badgers include this condition and specifically oblige all restraints to be checked before noon each day. This minimises the time spent by the badger in the restraint. In some very exceptional cases, where a large number of badgers are found in the same area, this may result in some checks being made later, but this is rare.
A veterinary inspector, in the course of the epidemiological investigation of a tuberculosis breakdown in a herd, may make an application for a badger capture licence if wildlife involvement is suspected. The epidemiological investigation examines other possible sources such as bought-in animals and residual infection from a previous breakdown. It is only when the investigation cannot attribute a definite source and cannot rule out badger involvement that a licence application is made. Evidence of badger activity on the holding must be found. It is my Department's policy, for operational reasons, not to disclose the locations of licence areas.
My Department has no plans to suspend badger removal in any licence area. The recent announcement from DEFRA on suspending the culling in their "reactive" areas has been noted. However, until the data leading to this decision is published, and compared with data in studies carried out by my Department, no decision on suspension or otherwise will be made.
Badger removal in any licence area is always carried out with the agreement of the landowners concerned. If this is not forthcoming, no removal on those lands will be undertaken.