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

The Senator's idea to have a public awareness campaign is a good one. I must advise that any such campaign would need to be led by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Senator mentioned that these toxins are available on the shelves of garden centres and other stores. Another issue is the storage of carbofuran and other toxins that have been banned because they may still be available on farms. Perhaps a call for people to deposit these products at a secure facility would be a really useful way to address the amount of toxins that are out there. We will raise the issue of a public awareness campaign with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and I will get back to the Senator about a timeline for the service level agreement.

Finally, I reiterate that it is illegal to persecute or poison a raptor either directly or indirectly. My Department takes wildlife crime very seriously and in a number of instances there has been a successful outcome to cases that were brought to court over the direct poisoning of raptors. We take the issue very seriously and I welcome the fact the Senator raised this issue today.