John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The renewed programme for Government includes a commitment to ban the practice of stag hunting. I should explain that under existing wildlife legislation I can, as Minister, issue a licence for the hunting of deer by a pack of hounds. As the Deputy is no doubt aware, there is now only one hunt club in the State which continues to hunt deer using a pack of hounds and horses. I have issued a licence to this hunt club to hunt deer with a pack of hounds for the 2009-2010 season which ends on 31 March 2010.

However, I continue to believe that this particular hunting practice should cease for animal welfare and public safety reasons. I believe a large proportion of the public consider such activity is no longer acceptable. The Deputy may recall an incident a few years ago when a deer pursued by a pack of hounds entered a school yard during the school day. I find an incident like this totally intolerable. Since then, there have been other public safety incidents involving deer in flight leaping through hedges onto public roads. Therefore, I recently obtained Government approval to the drafting of legislation to prohibit the hunting of deer by a pack of stag hounds. This legislation will not have any implications for other activities such as fox-hunting, hare coursing or the shooting of deer. This new legislation will also allow for regulations to control recreational activities, to address invasive species and to increase the penalties under the Wildlife Acts.

There is a need to regulate certain recreational activities in ecologically sensitive areas. This is in response to a judgment of the European Court of Justice which found that Ireland had failed to transpose adequately Article 6(2) of the habitats directive in the field of recreational activities. Certain, currently unregulated activities, such as the use of quad-bikes, scramblers or jet-skis in inappropriate locations, have resulted in serious ecological damage, including degradation and erosion of upland habitats and the destruction of the breeding sites of protected water birds. This problem must be urgently addressed if Ireland hopes to avoid further litigation at the European Court of Justice and the imposition of heavy fines.

I refer to what are termed "invasive alien species". These are plants and animals which, if released to the wild either by accident or on purpose, have the potential to cause substantial economic damage as well as damage the natural biodiversity of the country. Examples we all know include the grey squirrel, muntjac deer, zebra mussel and the African pondweed, which is choking Lough Corrib. Increased powers are required to enable us to take the necessary steps to regulate the import, sale and dispersal of these undesirable animal and plant invasive species and to take appropriate steps, if possible, to eradicate them or minimise the threat that they pose.

The legislation will increase the maximum fines that could be imposed on a person following a conviction for an offence under the Wildlife Act. The penalties were last increased in 2000. For example, the current maximum fine of £500 will be increased to €1,000 while the £50,000 will increase to €100,000. It is my intention to publish the legislation as soon as possible.

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