Mattie McGrath demands month-long extension of deer consultation
Mattie McGrath urged an extension of a closing deer consultation and warned that deer overpopulation is causing accidents and serious injuries. He called on the Government to extend the consultation by four weeks to 10 March so rural dwellers, road users, health and safety interests, farmers and landowners can submit input.
Sympathy and thanks
He opened on behalf of the Rural Independent colleagues with sympathy and thanked all the groups supporting the adequate victims.
Deer overpopulation and safety concerns
He said the deer overpopulation situation is alarming throughout rural Ireland and parts of urban Ireland. He cited numerous accidents across Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick, saying people have been seriously injured and that there will be fatalities if the issue is not addressed.
Consultation awareness and request for extension
He noted a public deer consultation is currently open but said awareness of it is very poor. He asked the Government to insist the consultation be extended for at least a month and specifically requested an extension of four weeks until the 10th of March so people can feed into the strategy submission.
Venison activity and further questions
He asked if anyone could speak to venison activity and directly invited the minister to respond to queries about the topic.
Government response and data gathering
The minister replied that the consultation has been led by the Department of Agriculture, which has re-established the Deere Forum and is conscious of the deer population. The minister said better data and statistics are needed and that there has been good engagement in the public consultation, which is helping to build a clearer picture.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I, too, on behalf of the Rural Independent colleagues, want to pass our sympathy and thank all the groups supporting the adequate victims also. Taoiseach, the deer overpopulation situation is alarming throughout rural Ireland and parts of urban Ireland. There is actually a deer consultation open at the moment which closes this Friday. The lack of awareness or getting it out there to people that know this consultation is on is very, very poor. I am calling for the Government to insist on this being extended for at least a month because it is an issue for rural dwellers, road users, health and safety, farmers and indeed our landowners and ordinary people because there have been numerous accidents all around my county, Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick and care everywhere else. People have got seriously injured and there will be fatalities. We just have an overpopulation. People need to feed into this submission, that is the strategy they are developing. If they are not aware of it, they cannot. I am asking for it to be extended for four weeks until the 10th of March, please. Anyone to talk to us about venison activity? Minister? The consultation, as I understand it, has been led by the Department of Agriculture. The Department has re-established the Deere Forum and certainly we are conscious of the population of deer. We do need to get better data and better statistics but I think there has been good engagement in relation to the public consultation and we are getting a better picture of it so I think it is important. I can't say that because it has been led by the Department of Agriculture. Thank you Minister Noonan.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
