The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food will meet tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13) to discuss deer management.

The committee will hear from representatives of the Irish Deer Management Strategy Group, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and more.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, committee chair and TD for Cork North West, Aindrias Moynihan, said the deer population creates pressures on farms across Ireland.

"They cause direct crop and grazing losses by feeding on crops and grass," deputy Moynihan said.

"This leads to reduced silage and grazing available for livestock and damages fencing as deer move through fields."

TB

Deputy Moynihan said that deer are also "recognised as being a source of TB which is transferable to cattle".

"For many farmers in deer-dense counties there are financial costs arising from a mix of lost yield, broken fences, cattle being effected by TB and important time spent on deer management," he said.

He said that deer are a growing road safety hazard for Irish road users.

"The number of deer-vehicle collisions has risen as both deer numbers and traffic volumes increase, with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and An Garda Síochána showing increases in annual incidents," the chair said.

The deputy said that the expanding deer population is also creating pressures on biodiversity. "Deer are known to eat the bark of young saplings impacting on plantations, both commercial and recreational as well as wild growth," he said.

"Overgrazing in areas of areas identified as being of particular natural importance has also resulted in loss of natural habitat. 

“These issues and concerns will be explored during the course of the meeting by the members and the witnesses.”