Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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538. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the official policy in place within his Department which outlines the procedure for the rescue efforts of beached whales; if this policy is circulated to the various stakeholders such as Local Government and the National Parks and Wildlife Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32027/14]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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539. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether it is best practice to allow beached whales to perish without any intervention in order to ease the suffering of the animal; his views on whether it is standard practice to prohibit volunteers from making rescue efforts; his plans to review this policy in the near future in view of the distress of the whales beached in Falcarragh, County Donegal, recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32028/14]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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540. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reasons the necessary equipment was not available to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in County Donegal to allow them to humanely put beached whales in Donegal to death by chemical injection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32029/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 538 to 540, inclusive, together.

All whale species, including their habitats, are protected under the Wildlife Acts and the EU Habitats Directive. This legislation is enforced by of the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht whose officials, I understand have worked with various bodies including the local authority, the Garda Síochána and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group in order to alleviate the suffering of the beached whales. My Department has liaised with and has issued a burial licence to the Environment Division of Donegal County Council in respect of the burial of the carcasses.

With regard to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, my Department has, in recent years, provided funding to the Group to assist its work in promoting best practice in marine tourism and whale-watching in Ireland and with conservation of cetaceans, including whales in Irish waters. The Group has recently produced a welfare policy document which will be of interest to my Department and the various other government Departments and agencies involved with the Whale and Dolphin Group.