My Department's National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is responsible for the implementation of the legislative framework around invasive alien species in Ireland, including the 2024 European Union (Invasive Alien Species) Regulations (SI 374/2024) which give effect in the national context to the EU IAS Regulation (1143/2014).
With the new Invasive Alien Species Bureau in place, work will now begin on a National Invasive Species Management Strategy for Ireland to manage and ultimately control outbreaks of invasive plants and animals that negatively impact our native habitats and species and to prevent new invasive alien species from becoming established.
However, management and control of invasive alien species is a matter not exclusively for my Department. Other agencies, such as Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), have an important role to play. As part of the development of the National Management Strategy, there will be extensive consultation with and input from other agencies with a role in the management of invasive alien species, including IFI.
IFI has the statutory responsibility for the protection, development, and management of Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea angling resources and undertakes a range of work tackling invasive alien species on our inland waters, including in Lough Corrib.
