Ms Amanda Mooney:

The IFA in Wicklow has met with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Coillte and we are looking at taking a co-ordinated approach. Deer do not respect the boundaries of farmland, forestry, parks and uplands. I welcome the establishment of the deer management group. We need to give it time to come together with all the interested bodies to devise a plan. Deer numbers have exploded, not only in Wicklow but across the country. Deer are found in every county. It has been established that there is a link with the strain of TB carried by deer and badgers. It is a triangle. In effect, the only animal in the triangle that we are taking out at the moment is the one on our farms. We need to widen the net.

As Mr. Smyth has suggested, it needs to be a co-ordinated approach because it must cover all of the land areas. In our area, we are talking with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and with Coillte. I expect that when the deer management group gets up and running, we will co-ordinate the approach across the country. I look forward to that. Nobody in this room wants another 70 years of the emotional and financial cost on farms and to the taxpayer. We must get this problem sorted out and as Mr. Bourke has indicated, we must address the wildlife aspect of TB.