Michael Fitzmaurice demands action on deer damage in Galway

Demian, to go back to your thing on the TB in Wicklow, there are parts of Galway, East Galway and other parts of the country that are black spots, have you done analysis of TB in those areas where there's a lot of deer? We don't have, that analysis, that was fairly in-depth analysis that was carried out there in County Wicklow, and I suppose the thing is we don't have the evidence for other parts of the country, but absence of evidence doesn't mean evidence of absence, so we simply don't have it. So deer are a part of the picture of profit? We cannot rule them out as being part of the picture. Okay, alright, that's perfect. Seppi, forestry is being done and grants given to farmers, how come that there isn't an obligation that a 2.5 metre fence is put up, because most deers are eating farmer's grass around the country every day of the week. I suppose from a scheme point of view, Deputy, we're trying to keep the deer out of the forestry not in the forestry. They're in it already. I know, but I suppose from the point of view, looking at the trends in AFAR that I mentioned earlier on, there's an increasing trend for more broadleafs. If you're trying to keep them out of the forestry, would it not make sense then to put the fence up high enough to not let them in? I suppose, in deer areas, Deputy, as you know, the broadleafs have to be protected. So it's up to the registered forester in conjunction with his landowner to choose that option. No, but it's up to the Department of Agriculture to decide what's the terms and conditions. We do sometimes. We'd often insist on deer fencing. Why wouldn't it be a standard practice? Because I will tell you one thing, the amount of grass that's being eaten on farmers around, like East Galway is tortured with deers at the moment. There's even roads being blocked at night when you're driving them. That's how bad it is. You could see two or three hundred of them. That's how bad it is, up around Montpellier and all that country. Something has got to be done because it's causing problems, and I would ask the Department to look at that. To go back to Teddy, we talk about the damage done. Has there been any meeting with the insurance companies? Because that's where you'll know what was claimed and what wasn't claimed in relation to a deer accident. No, we haven't engaged with the insurance industry thus far. And would that not be the quick way of finding out how big of a problem it is, rather than asking TAA who haven't a bull's eye out it? Well, it is something for us to do in the future, but we haven't engaged with insurance companies so far. It's a question of local information in local areas, what we're working on. You have the coordinators on the ground, and I know there have been some efforts in areas where there was a big problem to concentrate an effort, where there was a road traffic problem. Michael might talk about that one a bit maybe. But there has been a bit of work done around that. To the national parks, is it you that takes overall responsibilities for deers around the country? And are you aware, as some of you should be, there's a huge problem with goats around Kinbara and Galway, and there's nothing being done. Is there any team or a SWAT team that goes in to try and solve problems, or is it just licensed and you're doing it? The National Parks and Wildlife do provide the licensing for deer hunting across the country. But as regards responsibility, National Parks and Wildlife have a responsibility for deer in the national parks and in the nature reserves. I suppose probably, I'm afraid I'm not qualified to talk on goats, and I think it's probably better for us to stick with deer. We'll stick to the deer as much as we can. And in relation to the Farm Relief Services, are these fridges in, or bases in, or are we waiting to know if there's money coming from the department? So what does a guy do that shoots deer at the moment? Typically he'll either, some hunters will have a fridge themselves or whatever, or they'll take it directly to the factory, either in Klain or other parts of the country. And can small abattoirs, can they look after them? Well they can, look, I defer to the department on who can take venison in, but typically anyone can. I suppose there's specialist factories dealing with it at the moment. Is there any way, or the National Parks might be able to tell me this, I was bailing in a field last year and it looked like a mini deer, is there two different types, I know there's two, you have two red deer and you have the sitka deer, but is there another smaller type of a deer, because I saw them, they came in the field and they weren't fit to jump out of it, which was unusual. Do they give a small run to a thing? Yeah, you're up in, I think your parts of the world follow deer, depending on the time of the year, there could be juveniles. No, these aren't juveniles. Yeah, they're small deer, the cats, and then in some areas there's muntjac, which were released. Where'd they come out of? They were released by people unknown. Depending on the time of year, you'll see... Is there anything put on the likes of them, like invasive species, that you do? Is there anything done like that, no? So, the likes of muntjac are covered under the open seasons order, but there's a 12-month season on them. A lot of times when we follow back the check-up on what are reports of muntjac, if you look at the seasonality of deer, it ends up invariably being a juvenile deer of other species, fallow or seeker or whatever. There's one last thing I think, for the sake of the commission, needs to be clarified. It's only about three or four minutes. Sorry Chairman, I've got to go, we will be convening, won't we? We will, yes. I've got a few questions, thank you. I'm not going to go on anyway. If it's Mars has the floor, and once he's finished, we're going to suspend and head over to vote. I think, Chair, all I'm going to say is one quick thing. For the sake of the commission, a statement was made in here earlier that the EU had banned Brazilian beef. If anyone read what they've done, they have said it's on the critical list, it's actually dangerous, and I hope that the Irish government would ban it, but that they are giving them now until September to get their house in order. I think that that needs to be clarified rather than something incorrect being said in here.