Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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364. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he agrees that when a Government Department confirms a recurring threat to public health and safety for the first time there should be a clear and distinct public administration response from said Department and from relevant executive agencies, and as the Minister - on the advice of his Department or the NPWS legally declared in July 2022, and again in April 2023, that high density urban gull colonies are a threat to the health and safety of the people of Balbriggan, a town of circa 25,000 citizens, if he will assure the Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service's (NPWS) over-arching role and responsibilities include policy, direction of appropriate executive agencies actions, and review of implementation, especially where public health and safety is threatened, and that the Department or the NPWS also retains a proactive role and procedural and reporting mechanisms for ensuring that effective reduction of the threat is being achieved by the executive agencies, and that all of these activities are encompassed in accurate and timely advice to the Minister from his Department or the NPWS. [33662/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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365. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he agrees that when a Government Department confirms a recurring threat to public health and safety for the first time there should be a clear and distinct public administration response from said Department and from relevant executive agencies, and as the Minister - on the advice of his Department or the NPWS legally declared in July 2022, and again in April 2023, that high density urban gull colonies are a threat to the health and safety of the people of Balbriggan, a town of circa 25,000 citizens, if he will provide copies of the formal correspondence between his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Fingal County Council regarding the above threat since he made the legal declaration in July 2022. [33663/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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366. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), in particular where he advised, in respect of the Public Consultation on the Wild Bird Declarations that closed on 24 February 2023, that "The results will be made available on the National Parks and Wildlife's (NPWS) website when analysis of the results has been completed," if he will provide details of the number of submissions received; and if he will outline his Department/NPWS's current scheduled date for completion of the analysis of submissions. [33665/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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367. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), in particular where he provided additional information not actually sought in the questions viz that "Matters relating to prohibiting the feeding of wild birds; correctly disposing of rubbish on our streets to make them less attractive and to discourage them from congregating in particular areas; any warning signage or publicity campaigns in relation to same is a matter for the local authority concerned.", will he advise as to relative extent to which his Department believes feeding of gulls in urban areas is responsible for the rapid proliferation of high density breeding (i.e. not just "congregating" per his reply) colonies as evidenced in his Department/NPWS's National Urban Gull Survey 2021, compared to i) the lack of predators compared to natural sea habitats, ii) ideal breeding conditions compared to natural sea habitats, iii) almost blanket legal protection for decades, iv) no resistance from humans compared to other wild bird species, and v) limitless food opportunities in the species typical 50k daily foraging range (seaward, rural and urban) as advised by the UK expert on urban gull ecology that was consulted by his predecessor's Consultative Committee on Urban gulls in 2019. [33666/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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368. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied) particularly the part of his reply where he provided "Details of key elements of the evidence base that were available to NPWS to inform the Wild Birds Declarations 2023-2024”, can he note that none of the evidence sources that he quoted address the question asked, viz will he provide the evidence considered, accepted and rejected by his Department in respect of the species listed for control for reasons of public health and safety, and the sources and dates thereof, and will he instruct his Department to provide the information requested, such that will allow an objective and transparent analysis and comparison of the decision criteria used across all species or evidence. [33667/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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369. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government will he explain why his Department/National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, is applying a decision threshold in relation to the control of urban gull species (herring gulls) whereby they must pose a threat to public health and safety in densely populated urban areas in order to be included in the annual derogation declarations, and will he set out the specific evidential criteria being applied by his Department/NPWS when it is deciding whether or not such a threat exists, and will he explain why, when such a threat has been recognised by his Department/NPWS, for example, in Balbriggan, that the only action it has taken is to declare the threat in the annual declarations, when it is in fact a duty of the State to act proactively to protect citizens and public health and safety. [33668/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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370. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government is he aware that the coastal city of Malaga, Spain, EU member state, population 569,005 in 2016, which has a surveyed population of 3,200 gulls, that is, a ratio of one gull to 177 people, provides a service to its residents as part of an "Environmental Health Service" (details supplied) via a phone-based app or a free phone service to have gull nests and eggs or injured gulls removed in order to protect its citizens from aggressive attack and or injury by gulls, and will he compare that basic public health and safety service in another EU member state, under the same legislation as applies in Ireland, to the complete lack of a response to urban gulls issues here in Ireland, for example, in Balbriggan, population 23,000 people, gull population 3,000 per NPWS's survey 2021, or a ratio of one gull to eight people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33669/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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371. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government is he aware that Natural England, NE, the public body responsible for nature protection in England, implemented in 2022 a joint initiative with the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, DEFRA, that was commenced in 2000, whereby Local Authorities across England which have public health and safety issues with urban gull colonies are granted, subject to submission of an acceptable gull management plan to NE, 'Organisational Licences' which empower them to control urban gulls in order to preserve public health and safety under the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, legislation which the UK implemented in order to comply with the 1979 EU Birds Directive, and will he inform the Deputy whether his Department intends to protect public health and safety in our cities and towns that are being negatively impacted by high density urban gull colonies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33670/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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372. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied) particularly the part of his reply were he provided "Details of key elements of the evidence base that were available to NPWS to inform the Wild Birds Declarations 2023-2024", in particular the evidence provided via his Department's National Urban Gull Survey, Keogh, N. T. and Lauder, A. W., 2021, is he aware of the serious public concerns now widespread in areas with regard to serious urban gull issues, and given the warnings about the risk of such concerns with regard to said areas in his Department's 2021 survey, that is, two years ago, will he explain to the Deputy why the people of Drogheda have still not been afforded protection of public health and safety in the Annual Declarations. [33671/23]