Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I do not think the Minister of State quite answered the question. Will he suspend the licences? We have seen further instances. I am unsure how many hares were found in Wexford and Kildare but there have been confirmed instances.

It appears from the response from the Department that the research work promised has not been carried out. The Department has said that it is working with colleagues and that it will sample rabbits from hunting bags at different locations. In the absence of that scientific data we need to take a precautionary approach in addressing this issue.

The hare is an iconic endemic species in Ireland. There have been instances of this disease in the UK recent years. In some areas there up to 70% of the population was wiped out. We cannot afford to allow that to happen to our hare population. It is important that we restrict and suspend licences at this point until we have sufficient research data available to us that can specify how widespread it is in our population across the country. It is not enough to know where cases involving hares are found. We must be proactive in sampling. Until that happens we should suspend licences. I call on the Minister of State again to suspend licences.

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