John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 660: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if whales are hunted in Irish waters; if there are Government initiatives in place to protect whales in Irish waters; and the Government's views on hunting for whales. [23763/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Whales are not hunted in Irish waters, and are subject to protection in several ways. Under the Whale Fisheries Act 1937, the catching or treating of whales by any ship within the exclusive fishery limits of the State is prohibited. Section 11(1) of the Wildlife Act 1976 makes it a function of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to secure the conservation of wildlife, including wild mammals such as whale species. In 1991 Ireland declared all our seas a whale and dolphin sanctuary, as a further indication of our commitment to conserve and protect these species. Ireland has adhered to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling since 1985 and is a member of the International Whaling Commission, which oversees this convention. Ireland was represented at the 57th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Ulsan, Republic of Korea last week. At this meeting, Ireland supported several decisions consistent with the Government's views on hunting for whales.

These decisions included the rejection of a proposal to remove the ban on commercial whaling, which was imposed by the Commission from 1985-86; the rejection of a proposal for a new scientific research programme by Japan in the Antarctic, which intended to double the take of minke whales to over 5,000, and also to take 220 fin and 200 humpback whales, over the next six years; support for the creation of a South Atlantic Sanctuary for whales; and the rejection of a proposal to abolish the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, which was established by the International Whaling Commission in 1994.