Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

For what it is worth, my understanding is that the National Parks and Wildlife Service wanted us to ban the laying of all poisons except for rats and mice. We were trying to put limits on how poison can be used and where it can be used to protect the birds Senators have mentioned. We all have an obligation to protect wildlife. There is no reason commercial farming cannot take place at the same time as the protection of vulnerable species. Certainly, the project in Donegal, where eagles being reintroduced into the wild was heralded as a great success, came to naught because of that unfortunate incident. The sense I am getting from Members is that they would like us to deal with the issue rather than rely on legislation from another Department. We will try to do that. The section is not bad and contains a lot of good stuff. Our team has done a pretty good job on it. The problem is that confusion can be created when two or three Departments are dealing with the same issue. One of the objectives of the legislation is to pull a series of different pieces of legislation, some of them under the remit of different Departments, into one comprehensive animal welfare Bill and I have examined section 18 in that context. We are trying to reduce the amount of legislation that people need to read in order to understand the rules. I will examine it again and see if we can provide the clarity that is sought by everyone.