Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this important matter for rural Ireland. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, to the House. We attended a similar virtual event recently and although the circumstances were difficult on the evening in question, we got through it.

The Covid-19 virus and the various regulations contained in the plan for living with Covid-19 have created truly exceptional and unprecedented circumstances for all us, prompting Government interventions in many aspects of Irish society in order to mitigate the negative impact of the virus.I wish to speak about one such instance today. The recent decision to move to level 5 of the plan for living with Covid-19 has had the effect of prohibiting the shooting of game birds even if the participant is hunting alone and within 5 km of home. Sunday, 1 November marked the beginning of the game shooting season, the biggest day in the calendar for many rural people. However, the shooting sports community stayed at home and played its part in supporting the national effort to combat the deadly threat to our communities from Covid-19. Country Sports Ireland, a leading representative body for shooting sports, is now calling for an extension of the season for pheasant shooting until February 2021 to compensate for time lost during November 2020 and I support that call.

Every year approximately 2,000 gun clubs and organised game shoots comprising around 50,000 members spend millions of euro rearing, releasing and caring for game birds, the great majority of which are pheasants. They also control pest and predator species for farmers and other land managers, provide supplementary feeding for wildlife, plant woodlands and cover crops as well as sympathetically manage habitats such as upland areas or wetlands. All of this extremely important conservation work is done at no cost to the State. The health benefits of outdoor recreation such as shooting sports are well documented and it is imperative that we do everything we can to enable citizens to participate in such activities during what are challenging times for everyone in rural communities.

The recent move to level 5 resulted in the prohibition of the shooting of pheasants until at least 2 December 2020. It is possible that there could be further restrictions on shooting before the end of the season on 31 January 2021. Therefore, a significant proportion of the shooting season for pheasants will be lost and this unexpected and unprecedented occurrence may lead to an overabundance of adult pheasants post-season. This may have an adverse effect on the welfare of pheasants and other species in terms of the availability of food sources in spring 2021. The number of pheasants released would in any other year be perfectly sustainable but the unforeseen circumstances caused by Covid-19 and in particular, the provisions under level 5 of the living with Covid-19 plan, have created an exceptional situation which must be addressed.

Under the Wildlife Act 1976, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is empowered to grant licences which permit the hunting of pen-reared pheasants during the month of February. This is principally because pheasants are not an indigenous species and are not a conservation concern. Their numbers are boosted each year by release programmes and in any case, I am advised that they breed much later in the year, in April and May. All of the clubs and organised game shoots that release pheasants during 2020 should be granted a licence to shoot until the end of February 2021 for environmental balancing purposes. I ask the Minister of State to indicate that the Minister will favourably consider licensing the hunting of pen-reared pheasants until the end of February 2021 under the provisions of the Wildlife Act 1976, provided we are not under level 5 restrictions at that time. This extension already has a standing in law and would be a cost-effective and direct approach to resolving a potentially significant conservation issue. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.