Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan has condemned recent illegal fires by saying that those who deliberately cause these occurrences “are a scourge to society and their activities cost all of us”. He has since announced that there will be increased patrols and aerial surveillance in national parks and reserves. This follows an illegal 300ha fire in Wicklow Mountains National Park.
Noonan visited the site earlier this week and stated that illegal upland burning devastates vulnerable wildlife and habitats during the breeding season.
“These scenes are by no means unfamiliar. We see them every year, including in the state’s most valuable natural assets, our national parks and nature reserves, which provide such enormous benefit to nature, society and the economy”, says Noonan. Those responsible for this have no concern for the wide-ranging impacts, he claims.
The risk of manmade fires has now become a permanent feature of the year. The minister has warned those intending to break the law in this way, that increased action will be taken in order to support early detection and deterrence.
The Minister says that he will progress the implementation of a coordinated response across the Department of Heritage, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, as a matter of urgency. He has also outlined in the Dáil his support for equipping members of the Defence Forces to assist in combating these illegal fires, as is the case in other jurisdictions.
Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts 1976, prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, until 31 August, 2022.