Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her Commencement matter. It is always good to talk about biodiversity in the Seanad even if it is a negative issue. It is important to highlight important points, particularly the poisoning of raptors. I take on board the specific points she made about testing and a public awareness campaign, which I will address in a follow-up response.

Ireland is home to more than 14 species of breeding raptors. Some species are largely resident, for example, the kestrel and the barn owl, with others visiting Ireland largely in winter, such as the snowy owl, or on passage in early spring and late summer, such as the hobby or osprey.

Various natural, environmental and anthropogenic factors lead to mortality incidents within the populations of Ireland's raptor species and can affect their conservation status. These include: sub-optimal prey availability and habitat suitability that is compounded by prolonged periods of inclement weather; collisions with traffic on road and rail networks, wind turbines, etc.; disease, including avian influenza; persecution via direct shooting or deliberate poisoning; and environmental pollution, for example, by their feeding on dead or moribund rodents that have ingested rodenticide, which is the issue being discussed here today. This particular factor can lead to what is known as secondary poisoning as the bird does not feed on the poison itself directly.

Since 2011, my staff have worked collaboratively with the regional veterinary laboratory service of the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, and the State Laboratory, to determine the cause of death of raptor carcasses that have been recovered from around the country under the RAPTOR protocol, which is the Recording and Addressing Persecution and Threats to Our Raptors protocol. The protocol already includes testing for secondary poisoning in raptors.

As part of the protocol, liver and stomach samples are routinely taken from each viable carcass. The samples are subjected to a range of toxicological testing to identify and quantify, where possible, the concentrations of particular analytes or components in the samples. These analyses allow for the detection of substances that are used to deliberately target raptors and also substances that may be prevalent in the wider countryside such as second generation anticoagulant rodenticides, SGARs, that are used to control rodents. As the Senator mentioned, rodents constitute part of the diet of many raptor species such as barn owl. The suite of substances that are routinely tested for include those used to deliberately target raptors such as carbofuran, alphachloralose, methiocarb as well as a whole suite of SGARs, which are rodenticides, including brodifacoum, flucomafen and difenacoum. It should be noted that raptors are the most effective way to control rodents. The Senator rightly said that many farmers are now seeing the benefit of having barn owls on their farms in terms of bringing a balance both to nature and habitats.

With relevant stakeholders, my staff are looking at the breadth of potential testing concerning the current monitoring of contaminants in raptors. Furthermore, my staff are working to update the existing service level agreement with the State Laboratory and the regional veterinary laboratory service. This will allow the current RAPTOR protocol to continue to operate, and allows us to effectively detect and monitor a range of environmental contaminants, including rodenticides, which are prevalent in the organs and tissues of these top predators. It is vital to have this information not just for national purposes, so that we understand the impact of such poisoning on our raptor populations, but also in the European-wide context, with the aim of reducing chemical risks to raptors, to the wider environment and to human health. Reports on the protocol are prepared annually and made available on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.