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

I agree that road safety has to be of paramount concern for all of us. I am shocked at the number of lives that have been lost on our roads so far this year. I extend my condolences to the families and communities affected. There are many aspects to road safety, including car safety, the quality of roads, speeding, behaviour and education. I accept that animals on the road can be a road safety risk. The constituency I represent is very different to that of Deputy Healy-Rae, but we have a significant number of deer in the Phoenix Park. They sometimes get out and cause road safety issues. I can understand how deer that are not enclosed could cause road safety concerns and potentially result in very real problems around the country.

We have a deer management forum that works between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the NPWS. So far, 5,500 licences have been issued by the NPWS for deer hunting. The NPWS culls deer in national parks and there is a section 42 system for landowners. We do not believe that a national cull programme is needed, but the forum will report on this shortly and will make further recommendations.

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