Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. The budget for the National Parks and Wildlife Service has been increased in recent years and I am confident it will be again. We have some fabulous national parks in Ireland. A lot of people will have an opportunity to discover them over the next couple of months. I was in the Burren National Park last weekend. I encourage people to visit but not in too large numbers because it does takeaway from it when there are too many people there. It is difficult for me to answer the question so I will ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to correspond with the Deputy in more detail. I do know that prosecutions can be difficult to take in this area because for a prosecution to be effective evidence is needed. Evidence of wildlife crimes usually involves either a witness or a video. Without those, it is hard to secure a prosecution. We need to do more for sure.

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