Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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171. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of prosecutions that have been taken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service against other State bodies; and if he will provide a breakdown of the number of successful prosecutions, in tabular form. [46911/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The function of the enhanced Wildlife Crime Operations is to support the law enforcement work that has been, and continues to be done by National Parks and Wildlife Service Regional staff.

Some 110 staff are working across all regions of the country to address wildlife crime. These include District Conservation Officers and Conservation Rangers, supported by Regional Managers and Divisional Managers. Additional staffing resources are being allocated to support this work, and it is my intention that ranger numbers will be increased to 120 across the country.

The work being carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife Service saw 21 prosecutions successfully closed in 2021. Twenty four prosecutions have been successfully closed to date in 2022, and a further 45 are on hand at present.

In the past 5 years, the Department prosecuted one local authority. The outcome of this case was successful.