Farm Relief Services awarded tender for Deer Management Strategy programme manager
- Published on: 7 February 2025
- Last updated on: 12 February 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, along with Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan, today welcomed the awarding of the tender for Deer Management Strategy programme manager to Farm Relief Services (FRS). The appointment of the programme manager was a key recommendation of the Deer Management Strategy Group, chaired by Teddy Cashman. The programme manager will also be responsible for the establishment of 15 local Deer Management Units.
This is the culmination of several months work of the Deer Management Strategy Group. The development of the report involved a thorough process including a public consultation, stakeholder meetings and stakeholder sub-committees which led to the formation of a series of recommendations, which the group has presented to the Ministers.
Minister Heydon welcomed the news saying:
“For agriculture, as well as our nature ecosystems, it is important that we aware of the need for the sustainable management of our national deer population. These include 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 appointment of a deer programme manager is an important milestone in the sustainable management of our national deer population. I wish the programme manager well in their work and I look forward to their implementation of the deer management strategy under the guidance of the Deer Management Strategy Group."
Minister of State O’Sullivan is eager for this work to commence as soon as possible. In a further comment on the work of the group, Minister O’Sullivan said:
“I am very pleased to see the appointment of the programme manager. Since the introduction of the Wildlife Acts, the range and number of red deer, sika deer and fallow deer have increased significantly across Ireland. Overgrazing by deer is now a serious pressure and threat in our National Parks and Nature Reserves and for native woodlands across the country, including the Annex I woodland types listed on the EU’s Habitats Directive. Nonetheless, there are encouraging signs that sustained regeneration of native species can occur if the grazing pressure is reduced. I wish the programme manager every success and look forward to hearing more as the work progresses."
Commenting of the final report, Mr Cashman said:
“The Deer Management Strategy Group are delighted that a company of the calibre of Farm Relief Services have been awarded the tender to manage the national deer management programme. The programme manager is key to implementing the recommendations of the Deer Management Strategy Group and I look forward to working with FRS over the coming years making this a reality."
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Director General Niall Ó Donnchú welcomed the appointment of FRS and said:
“This demonstrates excellent cross departmental cooperation between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and NPWS to ensure the successful delivery of the deer management strategy. Reducing deer numbers to sustainable levels is now the most important issue in many of our native woodlands across Ireland. NPWS looks forward to working with the newly appointed programme manager through the National Deer Management Strategy Group."
Notes
Overgrazing by deer is a serious pressure and threat for native woodlands across Ireland, including the Annex I woodland types listed under the EU’s Habitats Directive. Deer densities in Wicklow in particular, but also in parts of Tipperary, Waterford, Donegal and Galway, are above a sustainable level for land management activities and are impacting on farming, forestry, nature conservation and biodiversity.
In September 2022, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with support from the then Minister of State for Heritage appointed Teddy Cashman as an independent chairperson to lead the drive in developing a renewed vision and strategy for the management of wild deer in Ireland.
The Irish Deer Management Strategy Group (IDMSG) was set up with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) & Coillte.
The role of the IDMSG was to develop initiatives to ensure sustainable deer numbers while achieving the objectives of landowners ranging from biodiversity, forestry, agriculture, animal health and road safety.
The IDMSG undertook significant direct engagement with all the relevant stakeholders including foresters, farmers, NGOs, conservationists, ecologists, deer hunting representative groups and individual deer hunters. This culminated in the setting up of five sub-committees that were tasked with looking at specific issues that came to the fore as part of the public consultation and various stakeholder engagements.