Donegal County Council Agriculture Committee were today given a presentation from the Irish Deer Management Strategy Group, by Chairperson Mr. Teddy Cashman.
The group firstly reflected on past work complete by the former Deer Management Forum as well as a pilot program undertaken by Wicklow County Council.
They then held a public consultation on the impact of deer numbers in Ireland, to which there was a significant 1,512 responses.
The most popular responses pertained to biodiversity loss, damage to agriculture and road traffic collisions.
From this consultation short and medium term recommendations were made by the IDMSG.
These include the appointment of a program manager, the development of an implementation plan and to establish Deer Management Units in hot spots.
Medium term recommendations looked at reviewing the feasibility of setting up a Deer Management Agency and monitoring the impact of the implementation plan on the surrounding environment.
The report can be read in full HERE.
