Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I commend that wonderful documentary. It was a great credit to all of our staff in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. The strategy review of the NPWS the Government committed to and which it is now implementing is in train. The number of staff, including rangers and general operatives, across our national parks has increased significantly over the last year. I agree with the Deputy on deer management. It is an issue the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and I have been working on through the deer forum. We need to look at a significant cull of deer across the country. We need numbers and data. We certainly need a whole renewed approach to the issue because it is impacting very negatively on our biodiversity and, from reports I have read, particularly on the ability of the woodlands in Killarney National Park to regenerate naturally when the removal of rhododendron takes place. There is a significant amount of work to be done and a lot of work is under way with regard to the staffing levels we put in place over the last year in particular.

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