Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We deliberately have not dealt in a detailed way in this Bill with the laying of poison because it is dealt with under the Wildlife Acts. In the case of a person laying poison - in most cases this will be at farm level - we felt a need to bring clarity to whether he or she needed to get permission from the local authority to do so.

What happened recently was shocking. My understanding is that the Wildlife Acts deal with that issue. It should not have happened. It is possible to secure prosecutions if it can be proven that the birds were poisoned as a result of illegal laying of poison. I do not think we can deal with the detail of that in this Bill.

See this speech in context