Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 659: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will report on the efforts his Department is taking to bring an end to the slaughter of whale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30587/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There are a number of measures in place to protect whales in Irish waters. 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. 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.

At the international level, 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. At the 57th meeting of the International Whaling Commission in June 2005, Ireland supported a number of decisions that clearly demonstrate my Department's views and the Government's views on hunting of whales. These decisions include rejection of a proposal to remove the ban on commercial whaling; rejection of a proposal for a new scientific research programme by Japan in the Antarctic, which intends 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; rejection of a proposal to abolish the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, which was established by the International Whaling Commission in 1994; and support for the creation of a south Atlantic sanctuary for whales.