Ban on deer hunts using hounds a step closer

CABINET HAS approved heads of a Bill which will make deer-hunting with hounds an offence, Minister for the Environment John Gormley has confirmed.

Quad bike and jet-ski activities will be banned in environmentally sensitive locations, and financial penalties for breaches of the Wildlife Acts will be doubled.

An amendment to the 1976 and 2000 Acts will include a provision prohibiting deer hunting with a hound or pack of hounds. This will not have implications for pursuits such as fox-hunting, hare coursing and the shooting of deer.

“One of the reports I received . . . showed deer going across the road just in front of a car. That set off alarm bells for me, and it seemed to me that licensing this was just not feasible, particularly in a built-up, increasingly urbanised area, and that’s why I came to this conclusion,” Mr Gormley said.

Bringing about an end to stag-hunting was a commitment in the programme for government, renegotiated between Fianna Fáil and the Greens last month.

Prior to the agreement, Mr Gormley issued a licence to the Ward Union Hunt in Co Meath allowing hunting to continue until March of next year. This is the only licensed hunt in the country.

At that time, his spokesman said Mr Gormley remained opposed to the practice, but that refusing to issue the licence would require legislative change.

The Minister will get new powers to make regulations to prohibit or regulate the use of jet-skis, quad bikes, scramblers and off-road 4x4 vehicles in environmentally sensitive locations. He said he was amending the legislation to address issues “in relation to which Ireland is at present under pressure from the European Commission on foot of judgments of the European Court of Justice”.

Mr Gormley said Ireland had failed to address the impact of recreational activities that were detrimental to Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protected Areas (SPAs) across the country. “We wanted to make sure that we are not disturbing birds or harming protected flora and fauna,” Mr Gormley said.

Controversies around such activities have arisen in locations such as Lough Derravaragh in Co Westmeath, Mount Leinster and the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Mr Gormley confirmed exemptions would be made for work vehicles, giving the example of farmers using quad bikes.

Meanwhile, financial penalties for Wildlife Acts breaches will be increased for the first time in almost a decade, having last been amended in the 2000 Act. A breach which would have incurred a fine of €500 will result in a €1,000 penalty, for instance.

The Minister will have powers to prohibit and regulate importation, transport and sale of what he called “invasive” species – African pond weed, wild rhododendron, zebra mussel and grey squirrel.