Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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73. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, officers monitoring illegal activity of digging out burrows; and if her Department will allocate further resources to counter the digging out of foxes and badgers from burrows across the country. [2998/18]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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The question has been tabled against the backdrop of some very alarming evidence that has emerged online regarding the escalating and organised nature of some barbaric digging out of foxes, in particular, as well as badgers. Horrific brutality has been displayed in online imagery. In that context, how many NPWS officers are monitoring this activity and are there plans to increase that number?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Daly for raising this issue. They are deplorable and illegal activities. Investigating incidents of badger baiting, fox baiting or digging out, as it is sometimes referred to, is one of a large number of actions and interventions carried out by field staff of my Department on an ongoing basis. Of my Department’s total staff, some 330 work in the area of natural heritage through the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS.  In addition, my Department takes on in the region of 70 seasonal staff during the year to assist the NPWS. Front-line conservation rangers are deployed through a regional structure and assignments are determined in light of Departmental business needs and priorities.  Within this staffing context, officials of my Department carry out scientific research, survey work and monitor compliance with national and European law on nature conservation across the country. They conduct patrols and site visits to enforce the various provisions of national and EU legislation, as required, and many of these officers carry out work in more than one county. They also investigate reports of breaches of legislation, including illegal snaring or digging out of badgers and foxes, as well as monitoring compliance at coursing events etc. Members of An Garda Síochána are also empowered under the Acts to investigate alleged offences and to prosecute if they see fit. Staffing levels across my Department are kept under regular review in line with emerging business needs and Government policy on public sector pay and staffing as advised by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. 

I spoke to my officials about extra resources and they have said it is something we will look at very seriously once the funding is available. Addressing these activities is important to me and I will arrange to allocate what resources I can as a priority. I will also continue to liaise with the Garda Síochána on covert actions with other agencies. We also work with the ISPCA to counteract these illegal activities.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I am aware that the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, officers work very hard. I am friendly with law enforcement officers who have an interest in animal welfare issues who have been monitoring some of this activity online. Through them, I am aware that this appalling barbarity is perpetuated in almost every county in Ireland. Foxes are being dug out and online footage is being posted of grown men forcing animals out of burrows while they watch and record dogs viciously mauling them apart in the name of sport. This gratuitous violence is then played online. The situation is now beyond critical, particularly when improvements in animal welfare are under way in the UK, which puts us in danger of becoming a haven for this type of barbarity and a destination for tourism in this illegal activity, I do not like to use the word "sport", because that is not what it is. It is seriously sick.

Will the Minister consider a joint task force featuring some members of the NPWS and of An Garda Síochána because there are criminal elements involved in this and it is too dangerous for officers of the NPWS to do the job on their own?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As I said earlier, this is a deplorable and illegal activity in the case of badgers and foxes. While badgers are protected under the wildlife Acts, foxes are not but they do come under the Animal Health and Welfare Act and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. One issue which arises in this area is that of evidence. Those doing it must be literally caught in the act. It is difficult for the Garda to gather the intelligence in this area to investigate and prosecute as it sees fit. I appreciate that the material is posted online but by that stage the event has already taken place.

It is something that I take very seriously. I am open to discussions about a joint task force. The ISPCA and the NPWS signed a memorandum of agreement in May 2006 which facilitates a closer working relationship between the two in wildlife crime and prosecutions. There are 72 front-line conservation rangers and we will increase this to 84. We are also going to try to increase the level of monitoring in this regard. It is an important issue and we must look after the welfare of the animals and clamp down on this barbaric practice.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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This is a dark underworld that exists in Ireland. The concern is the people involved are becoming more emboldened by the material they are putting up and by their methods of organisation. Some of these people are incredibly dangerous. The Minister is correct in saying that there is an issue of evidence but sometimes even when the evidence is found, the people who have done so are intimidated into not standing up and giving the evidence. We need to do much more. I wonder whether the Minister might consider reverting to a point of contact in her Department to whom people who have been monitoring this activity online and have a certain expertise in the area may be able to give some information. Alternatively, is there another way that she might have members of the NPWS liaise with members of An Garda Síochána in a more organised way to consider in a definite sense the idea of a joint task force in this regard? It could begin by monitoring and following some of the stuff online, which could then be followed up by people on the ground. It is incredibly dangerous and the most worrying thing is where it is leading to and the types of people who are involved.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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If the Deputy or anyone she knows is aware of specific incidents, I ask that they please be reported to either An Garda Síochána or my Department. I believe the NPWS and An Garda Síochána communicate in a type of loose task force and there is also the memorandum of understanding between the ISPCA and the NPWS. Patrols and site visits are also ongoing. I appreciate this type of activity could escalate in the future. I would like to see more prosecutions but much of the time, as they are investigated as a routine operational activity, it is difficult to bring them forward. Between 2013 and 2017, 70 prosecutions were taken for breaches of the Acts, not specifically related to baiting or digging out. The issue is something I take seriously and I take the Deputy's comments on board and appreciate her bringing them to the attention of the House.