Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Seanadóir Hackett. I raise this issue on the back of reports we heard in the media of several raptors having been found poisoned in the midlands, particularly the white-tailed eagle found dead between Lough Ramar in County Cavan and Loch Sheelin in County Westmeath in November 2022. I have raised the matter of toxicology tests before in this House and the need for these data to be collected to allow us to know what poisons are killing our raptors and how we can prevent it happening in future. Toxicology tests in this case revealed that the raptor died from ingesting carbofuran, which is a lethal pest control poison that has been outlawed for a decade because of its devastating impact on bird life. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, is still trying to establish what happened to the white-tailed eagle and whether it could have ingested the poison through eating a dead animal that had been laced with it.

This is not just about an attack on a single bird because, as the Minister of State knows, in a biodiversity crisis this is an attack on so much more than that. There are knock-on impacts right along the food chain. The original re-introduction programme from 2007 to 2011 involved releasing 100 young white-tailed eagles in Killarney National Park in County Kerry. I was lucky at the time as I was working in the national park and got to see the chicks. They are big babies and are fed deer legs. They are not like little chicks we see on Easter cards. We know, however, that there have been a number of poisoning attacks on these beautiful birds. It is wonderful to see them being reintroduced in this country. There is wonderful co-operation with the Norwegian Government to allow us to have these birds. It has donated these birds to us.

As I said, the white-tailed eagle was poisoned by carbofuran and this substance has been banned for ten years. We must ask ourselves where this carbofuran came from and how people got their hands on it. We suspect that these are poisons people have lying about in their sheds and have not disposed of. When I raised this issue previously, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, suggested that we might possibly look at an amnesty for these products. Now that we have seen another poisoning incident, I ask the Government to consider issuing a public service announcement offering an amnesty to people who have these poisons in their sheds and may not be aware that they are no longer permitted to be used. They should be allowed to present them so that they can be correctly disposed of to ensure they do not end up in the food chain or affect our precious biodiversity, particularly our raptor species.

I have also raised concerns regarding access to legal pesticides and rodenticides. Some of these are very poisonous chemicals but they are freely available to citizens in local discount stores and gardening centres. I ask that consideration be given to preventing them from being so readily accessible to the general public. Whatever about farmers having to use them and being trained in their use, the general public does not need to be using these poisons and they should be taken off the shelves. I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's view on the amnesty for carbofuran and other banned substances.