Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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248. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding the proposed mandatory hunter competence as assessment programme and concerns raised by farmers and members of the public. [3882/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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My Department grants some 5,000 licences annually to hunt deer during the Open Season which is the period during which deer can be legally shot under licence. The Open Season for deer operates generally from 1 September to 28 February, depending on the species and gender of deer.

In March 2015 myDepartment along with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine published the report Deer Management in Ireland – A Framework for Action which includespolicy recommendations relating to deer conservation and management that could be pursued by both Departments and stakeholders. An Irish Deer Management Forum was established to implement the various actions listed in the Report. The Forum itself comprises representatives from the main stakeholder areas such as landowners, forestry, hunting and conservation organisations as well as representatives from both Departments.

The Forum has issued a number of recommendations including a recommendation that mandatory certification of deer hunters should be introduced on a phased basis over a five year period from 1st January 2018 for existing licensed deer hunters and that new deer hunters should have the required certification from 1 January 2018.

I acknowledge the importance of ensuring that deer hunting is carried out in a safe manner.In that context my Department is considering how best to implement the recommendations of the group having regard to a range of factors including the fact that there are many hunters with many years of experience, knowledge and expertise and also the need to ensure and the most appropriate training and certification process would ultimately be implemented having regard to the most up-to-date safety, conservation and hunting considerations taking account of both local and international best practice.

In that regard my Department is satisfied that the most appropriate course of action is to consider the introduction of an appropriate training and certification process for first time applicants for deer hunting licences to commence from a date which will be determined in due course but certainly no later than 2020.