The Cathaoirleach has already gone through the number of people in the room from different organisations, so I will not go through that part of my presentation.
I thank the committee for inviting us to attend today to update it on where we are at. The biggest issue is that deer numbers have increased significantly in recent years in several parts of the country, and this is evident from the impacts seen across the country. Based on the number of deer shot annually and the number of section 42 permits issued, further increases are predicted. Impacts from deer have been noted around the country as part of Ireland’s national forest inventory and the habitat assessments carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, as part of Ireland’s reporting requirements on Natura 2000 sites. Further impacts are detailed in recent research carried out by UCC as part of a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine-funded project relating to wild deer. This impacts forestry, biodiversity, farming, road safety and animal health.
It is important that we have sustainable management of our national wild deer population for the protection of biodiversity, newly planted forestry, pasture and crops, road safety, animal health, public health and, not least, the health and welfare of the deer themselves. The deer management strategy group was established in September 2022 by the Department, with support from the NPWS, to lead a drive to develop a renewed vision and strategy for the management of wild deer and to build on the work of the Irish deer management forum. This group is comprised of representatives from the Department, the NPWS and Coillte.
To inform the work of the group, a public consultation was conducted in December 2022 seeking the views of stakeholders on the management of deer in Ireland. Over 1,500 people responded from a wide variety of backgrounds, including, but not limited to, farmers, landowners, foresters, hunters, ecologists, academics and rural and urban dwellers. The main findings were that the main impacts of deer were considered to be on biodiversity, farming and forestry, and road safety. The main solutions put forward were deer culling, land management practices and a successful venison market. The main constraints to managing the deer population were the lack of collaboration, public opinion and a limited venison market. The findings of the survey were presented to a stakeholder meeting on 27 April 2023 and these findings were generally well received.
Subcommittees involving stakeholders with a particular interest, expertise or representation were established with a view to developing a series of recommendations. Each subcommittee was chaired by a member of the steering group. The subcommittees' remits were legislation, training and education, solutions for land management, collaboration and venison. The recommendations of these subcommittees were presented to the wider stakeholder group on 27 August 2023. There was considerable overlap in the recommendations of the various groups. As I stated previously, the recommendations were well received and, indeed, several farming organisation and hunting group representatives were very positive in their feedback and contributions on that day.
A final report was launched in December 2023 and the recommendations therein were brought in a memo to the Government by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue. This was approved by the Government.
The recommendations have been grouped as short term and medium term. The overarching recommendations of the subcommittees were creation of a deer management agency, establishment of local deer management units, which has been completed under the auspices of the overall deer programme management tender, and changes to the open seasons order, which came into effect in February 2024. The short-term recommendations relate to the appointment of a programme manager and the development of an implementation plan. A procurement process was launched in spring 2024 and Farm Relief Services Co-Op, FRS, was successful in the tender process in early 2025.
The deer management strategy group met quarterly with the programme manager to review progress and implementation of the recommendations of the report. FRS has made good progress in establishing the deer management programme, recruiting staff and commencing the development of local deer management units. FRS will outline in more detail the establishment of those 15 units. This has involved the appointment of an overall programme manager, collaboration with and learning from NatureScot in Scotland, and deer management unit, DMU, selection and establishment. DMU co-ordinator recruitment has been completed for the 15 DMUs. IT systems, including a comprehensive tagging system, are being developed internally to aid the management of the programme.
Other short-term recommendations related to legislative changes involving the open seasons order for deer, review of current statutory instruments and legislation, and a revision of the section 42 permit application process under the Wildlife Acts. The open season order was amended in February 2024 to align with current dates in Northern Ireland. The section 42 application process was streamlined, ensuring a consistent approach across the country. The application process was also moved online, with this facility available since Tuesday, 5 May of this year. Amendments to veterinary public health legislation to facilitate greater local use have been requested.
The medium-to-long-term recommendations relate to the establishment of a deer management agency, enacting relevant legislation, ensuring a consistent deer management policy on State lands, education and training in forest design, and scheme specifications in relation to deer management. The number of licensed hunters is now at 7,000, and that number that has been increasing year on year. The number of deer being shot under licence has also increased under section 29 deer hunting licences and section 42 serious damage permits. The number of deer shot under section 29 during the 2023-24 season was over 69,000, which was an increase on the previous season, and the number of deer shot during the 2024-25 season has increased to 79,000, an increase of 10,000. In addition, the number of section 42 serious damage permits issued increased from 850 in 2019 to 1,339 in 2025, with the number of deer shot under those permits increasing from 5,600 to over 10,000 in the same period. The NPWS manages deer on its own land. The latest figures show that, since the 2024-25 season, there have been approximately 3,751 deer culled by the NPWS in national parks and nature reserves.
Regarding supports to incentivise the hunting of deer, the availability of suitable game handling and storage facilities in the locations where deer populations need to be managed is vital for the development of a sustainable wild venison industry. Funding has been sought and approved for the purchase of five refrigerated larders to store carcases in such locations, preserving the carcases and allowing the game handler an opportunity to collect multiple carcases for further handling efficiently. An incentive to encourage the hunting of small, low-value female deer, thereby reducing the breeding capacity of the deer population, is something we would like to see and we hope to bring a proposal to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine shortly.
The increase in deer numbers in recent years necessitates a response to reduce the deer numbers to more sustainable levels to prevent negative impacts on forestry, biodiversity, road safety, farming and animal health. The deer management strategy group is co-ordinating a sustainable, collaborative approach in the management of deer. Collaborative and landscape-level deer management is the norm in the wider European context. The group sought the views of all relevant stakeholders and produced a report with recommendations within 12 months of its establishment. The report has been approved by the Government. One of the main tenets of enabling the recommendations of the report has been the appointment of a national deer programme manger and the establishment of 15 deer management units. FRS will provide further detail on how this has been rolled out to date and future plans. However, the importance of this co-ordinated national approach cannot be overemphasised.
The deer management strategy group continues to implement the recommendations of the report in conjunction with the various stakeholder groups. From the outset, this group has gone about its work in a collaborative manner, engaging with the stakeholders, identifying the issues and endeavouring to find pragmatic and sensible solutions. We are grateful for the engagement of stakeholders to date but we need their continued support to sustainably manage the deer population in the years ahead.
I thank the committee for the opportunity to present our work to it and I thank members for their interest. I ask for their support as we progress this project over the years ahead.
