Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I will ask again about the Minister of State's Department, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the farming organisations and the wind energy people because a great deal of this land is suitable for very little other than afforestation, wind and things like that. This issue is not restricted to County Limerick but occurs across the country. My greatest concern is there has been a depletion in the numbers of breeding pairs of this bird over years and the reason is not known. Moreover, we probably never will know why because the scientific evidence is a bit woolly, to be honest about it. My worry is there may be a request from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to extend these areas out even further into west County Limerick and to bring in even more land without a proper regime or structure. That is why I now ask, in the context of a threat response plan for the habitat of this bird, that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht come together, acknowledge there is a problem, meet the landowners, discuss with them what can be done and come up with a plan that reflects the needs of the bird and its habitat but which also respects the needs of the habitat of the people who live on this land.

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