Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

262. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the National Parks and Wildlife Service is monitoring the number of cormorants on the river barrow and other waterway systems; if any relevant data on the number of cormorants on the river barrow and other waterway systems will be provided; the policies and procedures that the NPWS is using to monitor this invasive bird; if the NPWS control the number of cormorants on the inland waterway system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58757/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Cormorant is native to Ireland and is monitored at a number of sites during its breeding and non-breeding seasons, in accordance with Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive. It is largely a coastal breeding bird but a portion of the Irish population nests inland in freshwater environments. A breeding survey, including Ireland’s inland waterways system, was conducted in recent years.

The data is summarised in a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Irish Wildlife Manual, publicly available on the NPWS website www.npws.ie at the following link: www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM114.pdf.

Outside the breeding season, this species frequents inland waterways, as well as coastal and estuarine sites across the country. The Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS) is Ireland's programme for monitoring population trends of wintering waterbirds, including Cormorant, and the habitats they use.

I-WeBS covers approximately 250 sites and 750 subsites per annum across the country. An Irish Wildlife Manual describing the status and distribution of wintering cormorant and other waterbirds for the period 2009/10 – 2015/16 is also available at the following link: www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM_106_Irelands_Wintering_Waterbirds.pdf.

Contemporary data from I-WeBS can be accessed via the survey’s dedicated web portal at irishwetlandbirdsurvey.ie/.

Section 42 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (as amended) provides, that where protected wild animals or birds are causing serious damage, persons affected may, on application to the Minister, seek a permission to take appropriate steps to mitigate the damage.

Applications are investigated by my Department's NPWS to determine if serious damage is being caused and, if so, the most practical method of controlling the problem. To date in 2022, my Department has received no such applications for the River Barrow.