Tipperary TD welcomes proposals for deer cull due to road accidents and bovine TB link

Tipperary TD and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee Jackie Cahill, has welcomed the deer cull proposal being brought before Cabinet by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

“I’m delighted to hear that Minister McConalogue will be bringing a deer cull proposal before Cabinet shortly. This is long overdue, and it is essential for a variety of reasons. One major issue many of us are familiar with, myself included, is the huge number of accidents that have occurred as a result of deer crossing on roads," said the Fianna Fáil TD.

Deputy Cahill said that from a deer welfare point of view, their habitats were seriously overpopulated which was resulting in a lack of forage, and this was also driving them to travel outside of their habitats.

He said that the deer population needed to be restored to optimal levels to ensure they had sufficient forage to flourish within their habitats.

“This deer overpopulation is also a major contributing factor in the increasing rates of TB in cattle. Deer are straying from their habitats, mixing with cattle, and spreading the infection. This deer cull will be a significant step towards the control of TB in our bovine herd," he said.