Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. As he is aware, just four days ago, on Sunday 7 March, 18 firefighters, two Civil Defence units and the National Parks and Wildlife Service tackled a large gorse fire at Scarr Mountain in County Wicklow. This fire ended up scorching 50 ha of land designated as special area of conservation, which is our national park in Wicklow. These gorse fires are illegal from 1 March and this fire marks the start of the illegal fire season, which is a cyclical event that causes untold environmental, human and economic damage, not to mention putting firefighters, the Air Corps and emergency workers at risk.

Last year, a disproportionate number of illegal fires occurred in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. There were six as of June 2020 with one other major fire recorded in Killarney. More than 400 ha of protected land as well as wildlife were destroyed. In one area of commonage in the park, there have been illegal fires on the same land for 11 of the 19 years up to 2019. This land will take years to recover from an environmental perspective. The fire damage has been so frequent and intense that the land may never recover. It is not just from an environmental perspective because the burning of this land also impacted heavily on the air quality in the area, on the headwaters of the Liffey and on drinking water piped into Dublin.

Illegal fires on that scale also contribute greatly to our CO2 emissions which we struggle to try to drive down. From an environmental and biodiversity perspective, they are devastating. It can take years for land to recover and for wildlife to recover. They are devastating for wildlife and for bird populations. According to Birdwatch Ireland, red grouse, whinchat, meadow pipit and amber-listed species including skylark and stonechat are most at risk from gorse fires. Of course, for any birds that are breeding at the time, their nests and their young could be burnt, and it will stop them from foraging for food in nearby areas.

My constituents, both urban and rural, are tired of these fires happening every year. They are tired of seeing our firefighters having to fight fires that should not be happening in the first place. There tired of the pollution and the threat to lives and property, and of the damage to our wildlife and to our national park. When I was first elected, I spoke about these fires and we are here again saying the same things and asking the same questions. We need to tackle the problem properly. The measures that have been put in place so far are not achieving what we need them to achieve. We cannot tolerate these fires anymore. We need to put a major effort into ensuring they do not happen.

I welcome that the Minister of State visited this site this week and I thank him for coming to Wicklow to check the land out. However, we need to see tangible action. What actions is the Minister of State taking to ensure these fires are stopped once and for all?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I visited the Wicklow Mountains National Park this week and I met Wesley Atkinson and Hugh McAlinden, two members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service team the Deputy knows. I witnessed at first hand very significant damage to the habitat there. It was quite disturbing to see it close up.

I thank our team in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the fire service, An Garda Síochána, the Civil Defence and all who worked to tackle this blaze and are continuing to work throughout the country. Similar fires have taken place in the Slieve Bloom Mountains and on Brandon Hill in my county.

These wildfires do not occur naturally in Ireland. The main cause of such conflagrations is thought to be the deliberate starting of fires without concern for the emergency services, the wildlife habitat, communities or even private property close by. Important upland habitats are destroyed with local wildlife potentially killed or displaced at a critical time of year for many species. These sites are special areas of conservation and among the most precious places in Ireland for nature, and home to thriving populations of rare bird species. Setting these fires is absolutely criminal and an all-too-frequent tragedy. These fires impact on water quality and on soil stability, on climate and on human health.

As the Deputy will appreciate, Wicklow Mountains National Park comprises more than 20,000 ha and so it is very difficult to provide a visible presence on the ground to discourage and prevent unauthorised burning in the countryside. Equally, trying to identify the culprits - those who deliberately set fires in open areas without concern for the consequences - can be difficult. The Deputy made that case in regard to an area that has been burned 11 times. It is very difficult.

In the past week, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, has deployed increased fire patrols at our sites and remains in close liaison with the Garda and the fire services. These patrols have targeted known fire high risk areas. Where appropriate, cross compliance is pursued with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. My staff are committed to finding solutions to these fires and I call on all stakeholders, including the local communities, to work with us to find a way forward. Where evidence is forthcoming, we will pursue appropriate enforcement under the Wildlife Act or other legislation. Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2012 prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, from 1 March to 31 August, during the nesting and breeding season for birds and wildlife. Burning of vegetation on uncultivated land is prohibited without exception during these dates. These fires are criminal and frequently end in tragedy.

Considerable inter-agency efforts have been made to reduce the incidence of wildland fires, led by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, whose Department monitors conditions and issues wildland fire warning notices. That Department has led inter-agency reviews with a view to enhancing the mitigation of wildland fires.

The main challenges include encouraging members of the public, including landowners, farmers and recreational users of publicly accessible land, to act responsibly at all times, to be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, to be mindful of the need to protect property both publicly owned and privately owned, to appreciate the value of our natural heritage, particularly in our national parks, nature reserves and designated Natura 2000 sites. I appeal to all members of the public to be conscious of the danger posed by fire - any fire - but particularly a fire on open ground which can very quickly get out of control. We have all seen how homes and lives can be threatened and we have seen also the damage to the landscape and to valuable habitats caused by uncontrolled fires. Largely, it is a question of individuals being more responsible about actions they take and being mindful of the potential damage to life, private property and public property that can be caused by carelessly setting fires.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that national parks are being tasked with more intensive targeted measures, but, unfortunately, it seems to me like it is more of the same. Each year this happens, there are calls for more penalties and greater investigations, but each year it happens. We need a rethink and to look again at how we are managing this problem because the solutions that are being put in place are not working. Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that we are talking about a national park, an area that is one of our few protected areas in the country, and we do not even have a management plan for it. We do not have a plan that states biodiversity protection is the number one priority in this area. That is key. None of our national parks has a management plan. It is a derogation of our duty not to have such plans in place.

The second issue we need to look at is why people are burning. People know it is not good to do it. They know it is not good for the land or their neighbours. They know also that it is not good to have fire fighters trying to put out these fires. Why then are they burning? They are doing so because the policies of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine over years incentivise them to burn. The Department has identified land that is deemed marginal and scrubby and it will not make payments on land in that condition. Essentially, we are saying to farmers that if they want payment for that land they need to make it productive. We need to flip that on its head. We need to make sure that farmers are paid to protect our land and that we value what they are doing in protecting our biodiversity, our environment, our soil, our trees and so on. We need to rethink and flip what we are doing on its head because what we are doing is not working. We need to work with farmers and local communities and put in place measures that will work.

I ask the Minister of State to establish a task force comprising officials from the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Environment, Climate and Communications to look again at how this is happening and to work with the farming community, the ecologists and the local communities to make sure that measures that will work and achieve our aims are put in place.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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In terms of reassurance, it is important to note that significant conversations are taking place in regard to the next CAP strategic plan, looking at results-based payments for Natura 2000 sites, special protected areas, SPAs, and special areas of conservation, SACs. Those conversations are ongoing. It is fair to say that there has been a significant increase in investment in our national parks and nature reserves. We are employing additional park rangers and ecologists throughout the country. There is a significant challenge there, but that challenge is being met by Government acting to try to respond. I understand from the conversation I had on Tuesday last with the rangers on the ground that it is notoriously difficult to secure prosecutions and to catch people in these situations. Increased patrols, drones and other technologies to help in that regard are being deployed at all times, along with the additional work with the fire services.

I assure the Deputy that in regard to these incidents the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are working closely to try to tackle the root cause of these fires. The Deputy is correct in terms of the eligibility around farm payments. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has made clear that clearing lands of scrub will not be a conditionality of additional payments the following year. The Department is being clear in its messaging to landowners.

It is important as we enter into an opening up of the country in the coming months that everybody behaves responsibly around our uplands, nature reserves and national parks because they are a huge asset and have proven to be a huge asset to us over the past year in particular. I assure the Deputy that we will do all we can to try to eliminate this problem.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit agus leis an Teachta. Leis sin, táimid tagtha go dtí deireadh na seachtaine. Bíodh Lá Fhéile Pádraig taitneamhach agaibh uilig. Tá an Dáil ar athló go dtí 10 a.m. Dé Céadaoin, 24 Márta, anseo san ionad.