Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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229. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the degree to which various game birds or animals fall within the category of threatened or extinct species; the efforts being made to address the issue by way of restoration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40299/24]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Wildlife Act (1976-2024) regulates the hunting of protected birds and mammals in Ireland.

The International Union for Conservation (IUCN) system for assessing conservation status and extinction risk is intended to provide an explicit, objective framework for the classification of the broadest range of species according to their extinction risk. This system, commonly known as “red-listing” is used to assess various groups of animal and plant species in Ireland.

S.I. No. 66/2024 - Wildlife (Wild Mammals) (Open Seasons) (Amendment) Order 2024 - lists mammals that can be hunted in Ireland. They are: Fallow Deer, Sika Deer, Red Deer, Muntjac Deer and Hares. The Red List of Irish terrestrial mammals, Ireland Red List No. 12, was published in 2019. In this, Fallow Deer, Sika Deer, Red Deer and Irish hare are all listed as "Least Concern", implying good status. Muntjac Deer and Brown Hare were not included in the Red List assessment on the basis that they are post-1500 introductions to Ireland. See for details.

Certain wild bird species may be hunted at specific times of year. The full list of bird species that can currently be hunted in Ireland are listed in SI 421 of 2023 - Wildlife (Wild Birds) (Open Seasons) (Amendment) Order 2023 - and are: Red Grouse, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Golden Plover, Snipe, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Red-legged Partridge, Cock Pheasant, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, and Ruddy Duck.

The current Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland (known as BOCCI 4 and published in 2021), lists the following species as highest conservation concern or ‘Red’-listed:

Breeding - Red Grouse, Woodcock,

Wintering - Wigeon

Breeding and Wintering - Golden Plover, Shoveler, Snipe

The following species are listed of ‘medium conservation concern’ or ‘Amber’-listed:

Breeding and Wintering: Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck.

Wintering: Pintail, Greylag Goose.

A number of efforts are underway to address the conservation status of these species, including but not limited to:

• Publication of Statutory Instruments to finalise the legal protections of Special Protection Areas (SPAs), which many of these species occur within. This includes the regulation of activities that may damage or cause significant disturbance to the species that are Special Conservation Interests for the SPAs;
• Publication of site-specific conservation objectives for SPAs;
• Undertaking or commissioning surveys, monitoring and research to track their conservation status over time and the pressures and threats acting upon them;
• Projects and programmes funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department and by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, including the recently commenced Breeding Wader European Innovation Programme, the Ballydangan Bog Red Grouse Project and various measures in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).