Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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767. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the plans that are in place to eliminate wandering deer from roads in Kerry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1134/25]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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While the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department licenses the hunting of deer, it does not own the deer population and is not responsible for their control on private lands or in the wider countryside. They roam freely throughout the countryside and are present in many parts of the country. Deer populations, by their nature, are mobile and have a home range that is not constrained by land ownership boundaries.

The NPWS actively manages deer herd on lands in its ownership including National Parks. Where appropriate, and depending on the annual count and instances of damage caused by deer to habitats, especially woodland, culls are carried out on National Park lands to ensure that deer populations do not reach levels that would have negative ecological consequences. With regard to the management of deer within Killarney National Park, culling is a regular and on-going management operation and is undertaken periodically when resources, weather and timing permit. This allows the NPWS to work towards sustainable herd management, and, as such, there is a need to remove a certain percentage of animals from the herd on an on-going basis. The National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department has received no reports of incidents involving road users within the park.

In the case of deer on private property, landowners may apply to my Department for permission under section 42 of the Wildlife Acts to cull deer where this is necessary outside the annual open seasons. These permissions offer a facility whereby a person can obtain a permit, on a case by case basis, to prevent serious damage caused by individual deer on specific lands. Permissions are only issued where there is evidence of such damage.

Nationally, representatives of my Department participated in the Deer Management Strategy Group alongside representatives of Department of Agriculture and other interested stakeholders such as Coillte and Teagasc. My Department is committed to continuing to engage with the actions arising out of the group’s report and to being part of the national response to the issue of deer management.