Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1474. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on any work being carried out by his Department into the population growth of seagulls; their migration patterns and status as a protected species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41633/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department has primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves. The mission of the NPWS, as stated in its Strategic Plan 2023-2025, is to protect nature.

NPWS monitors the breeding populations of all breeding seabirds in Ireland, including gulls, to inform assessments at both the site (Special Protection Area or SPA) and national levels. Article 12 of the Birds Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC) requires Member States to report periodically on the status and trends of bird species. The next Article 12 report is under preparation and due for submission in the coming weeks. This report will include updated population assessments for Ireland’s breeding seabirds, which are protected under the EU’s Birds Directive and national transposing legislation. Following a review process at EU level, Article 12 reports are expected to be published in Q4 2025.

SPA-level trends for breeding gulls have been used to inform the development of site specific conservation objectives for Ireland’s SPA Network and can be found on the NPWS website: www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa

Recent publications on the status of Ireland’s gull species and other seabird species at the national level include “Seabirds Count: A census of breeding seabirds in Britain and Ireland (2015–2021)”, published in 2023 and part-funded by NPWS, and NPWS’ Irish Wildlife Manual 118 “The status of Ireland’s breeding seabirds: Birds Directive Article 12 reporting 2013-2018".