Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is grand. I welcome to the House the Minister of State, a very able man from Donegal. I am delighted to hear the good news about Valentia and Malin, which is not related to this subject.

The office really condensed the matter I wished to raise. I have always been very concerned about the Kerry red deer. As conservationists in Kerry, we do not shoot them and do not want to see any of them shot. I recognise the national importance of this deer herd and I welcome the Minister's recent order taking female Kerry red deer off the open-season list. I acknowledge the work of the NPWS in general in regard to them. In particular, I applaud the NPWS in the south-west region on protecting the red deer in Kerry. I thank all the rangers for the work they do with their patrols, including their night-time work. I look forward to the Minister of State clarifying the situation with regard to the size of the herd. Not many years ago the herd was threatened with extinction, which is no longer the case, I believe, but I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State. We also need to protect the gene pool in case, God forbid, we ever had an outbreak of TB. The deer traverse the same land as cattle, badgers and so on, and, thanks be to God, there has not been an outbreak. In order to protect the gene pool in the past we had Kerry red deer in Letterfrack, Doneraile and on Inishvickillaun. I ask the Minister of State to comment on the protection of the gene pool. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State.