Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

677. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of section 42 licences that have been issued annually since 2010 for the purpose of culling grey seals at fishing, aquaculture and salmonid river sites; the number of these that have been issued to commercial fishermen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5183/19]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are two species of seals in Irish waters - the Harbour or Common Seal and the more numerous Grey Seal.

While seals are protected under the EU Habitats Directive and the Wildlife Acts, permits may be obtained under section 42 of the Wildlife Acts to control seals where significant damage is being caused. Permits may be issued in response to specific applications and each application is considered on its merits. This redress is available, for example, to individual fishermen to control damage to fisheries by seals at particular locations.

In the period 2010 to the end of 2018 my Department issued 28 Section 42 permits to control seals. Some 21 permits allowed for the killing of seals which were restricted, in the main, to one or two seals per permit while 5 permits allowed for scaring only and 2 permits permitted both scaring and killing. Twenty of these permits related to commercial fisheries.