Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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266. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a matter (details supplied) with reference to European Court of Justice case C-247/85, Commission v. Belgium, 1985. [61376/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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267. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to European Court of Justice case C-247/85, Commission v. Belgium, 1985. [61377/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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268. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service are primarily responsible for ensuring that the State is compliant with the EU Habitats Directive and the EU Birds Directive in particular the Habitats Directive Articles 2 and 16.1.a, .b and .c and the Birds Directive Articles 2 and 9.1.a. [61378/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) in relation to annual wild birds' derogation declarations. [61379/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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270. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on whether high density European herring gull colonies have been enabled to proliferate exponentially in urban areas as policy under legal protection administered by his Department and without being subject to management and control in view of the results of the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned in May to July 2021 by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. [61380/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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271. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on whether freely proliferating high density European herring gull colonies are impacting negatively and seriously on communities in ways that are egregiously antisocial (details supplied); his views on the supporting evidence held by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service on each of these serious concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61381/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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272. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters in relation to the birds directive (details supplied). [61382/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the meaning of adapt the population in Article 1 of the birds directive in the contexts set out in Article 16.1.c of the habitats directive and Article 2 of the birds directive; and if this legal responsibility placed on member states by the European Commission in the directives includes upwards and downwards adaptation of population numbers as appropriate within the law and prevailing circumstances. [61383/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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274. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the meaning of, in the interests of public health and public safety, or for other imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including those of a social or economic nature, in Article 16.1.c of the habitats directive; and if he is satisfied that his Department is properly meeting its responsibilities in each of these regards in relation to high density urban seagull colonies. [61384/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) in relation to the results of the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned in the period May to June 2021. [61388/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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279. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) in relation to the results of the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned in the period May to June 2021. [61389/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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283. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Seabird 2000 Census Report 2002. [61393/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on whether it is now essential to urgently implement recommendation 8 of the report of his predecessor’s consultative committee on urban seagulls of 17 April 2020 in the interests of public health and safety in line with emphatic legal advices provided to him via the committee in August 2020 and February 2021 and thereby to modify and extend the now five-year-old pilot Balbriggan derogation declaration to other impacted towns and communities in order to legally and properly protect the interests of public health and safety as catered for under Article 9.1.a of the 1979 birds directive and Article 16.1.c of the habitats directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61395/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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290. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series on matters in relation to the urban gull population (details supplied). [61400/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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291. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the actions he plans to take to protect schools, school children, school staff and school property in the areas in which high density colonies are freely proliferating, for example, Balbriggan, Skerries, Howth and Drogheda as shown in the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service in May to June 2021 (details supplied). [61401/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 266 to 274, inclusive, 278, 279, 283, 285, 290 and 291 together.

As answered in previous Questions on this issue, my officials are continuing to work on assessing the recommendations of the first interim report of the Consultative Committee on urban gulls, which undertook a review of the issues relating to the impact of gulls in urban areas. My officials have begun the process of engaging with a number of bodies in order to move the recommendations forward.

Further to this, my Department undertook a National Gull Survey in 2021, the results of which will also inform ongoing work with stakeholders and communities to address concerns or conflict issues.

In terms of schools, Section 42 of the Wildlife Acts allows applications to be made to apply for a licence to remove nests and eggs from buildings, on a case by case basis, where serious damage has occurred. A licence may also be applied for under Section 22(9)(d) to take the nests or eggs of protected wild birds for other purposes. Applications are investigated by local staff and recommendations made on the most practical method of stopping or controlling the problem. As the Deputy will also be aware, a pilot derogation declaration is in place for a specified area in relation to the taking of nests and eggs, and my Department is considering the implications of extending same.

My Department is reviewing the Wild Birds Declaration wording in particular around the legal aspects of its implementation.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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275. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service will publish the report of the 2021 National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned in the period May to June 2021. [61385/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The report was published by my Department last week and is available on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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276. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service will publish the analysis of the results of the 2021 National Survey of Urban Gulls that it commissioned in the period May to June 2021 in time for its customary annual public consultation on derogation declarations for the 2021-2022 declarations in order that contributors to the public consultation who live in areas impacted by high density urban seagull colonies may be fully informed of the survey results and of derogation options; and if his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service will ensure that its analysis of the survey results includes substantive correlation to the first interim and minority reports submitted in April 2020 and the recommendations of the consultative committee on urban seagulls in particular but not exclusively the reports’ recommendations regarding the interests of public health and safety. [61386/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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277. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service will ensure when publishing its analysis of the National Survey of Urban Gulls that it commissioned in the period May to June 2021 that it includes in its analysis particular reference to the evidence it holds on the negative impacts on communities from proliferating high density seagull colonies, the expert advices that it has received via the consultative committee on urban seagulls since 2019, including legal advices and the legitimate interests of public health and safety which can be addressed in derogation declarations. [61387/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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280. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. [61390/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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281. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. [61391/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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282. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Seabird 2000 Census Report 2002. [61392/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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284. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61394/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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286. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Dublin survey only covered a limited number of areas with reference to the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service; and the names of Dublin city districts and suburbs that were actually included in the national survey and the apparently occupied nest totals for each surveyed location. [61396/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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287. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the locations and suburbs in Dublin that yielded the total of 770 apparently occupied nests with reference to the National Survey of Urban Gulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and with particular reference to the survey results for Dublin; and if these were actual nest sightings. [61397/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series of matters (details supplied) with reference to the 2021 National Survey of Urban Seagulls commissioned by his Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. [61398/21]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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289. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a series on matters in relation to the urban gull population (details supplied). [61399/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 276, 277, 280 to 282, inclusive, 284 and 286 to 289, inclusive, together.

My Department undertook the National Urban Gull Survey in 2021 as part of a wider seabird surveying collaboration with the UK known as Seabirds Count. The published report, enclosed for convenience, sets out the spatial focus of the surveys (Figures 2 and 4), including for a number of specific towns. In addition, Dublin City Centre and adjacent coastal suburbs also received additional survey effort.

This has allowed modelling work to be undertaken to derive preliminary estimates of the gull populations in the seven focal towns. This preliminary analysis focused on estimating the size of the breeding gull population, i.e. Apparently Occupied Nests (AON) and enables the quantification of gulls nesting in these towns. This will allow my Department to continue to work with stakeholders and communities with a view to reducing any conflict issues.

The analysis of the Irish and UK data is ongoing for the relevant gull species, as well as for other breeding seabird species; it is intended to derive population estimates at the country scale, for the Seabirds Count publication due in 2023. Comparisons of historical data of Herring Gull populations will be part of the overall analysis and reporting under the Seabirds Count initiative.

The recent European Red List of Birds uses the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and has classified the extinction risk of Herring Gull at the European level as ‘Least Concern’, an improvement from the previous assessment of ‘Near Threatened'.