Wildlife Rehabilitation Support Scheme: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29
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Laura Harmon (LAB), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I welcome the guests in the Gallery including my parents, Mary and Ted. It is their first time sitting in the Seanad Gallery. It is very welcome that the Minister of State and the Government are not opposing our motion. I commend Senator Noonan in particular on leading on this cross-party motion. I was blown away recently when I visited Wildlife Rescue Cork - I told the Minister of State about this - to see the work it does in rehabilitation and the number of animals it treats and allows back into the wild. They ring all the birds of prey and waterbirds. They have had re-sightings of herons, swans and gulls that have migrated and come back. It goes to show that rehabilitation works and animals will behave in the same way when they are released back into the wild. Aside from the economic benefits and social benefits in education, a real reason behind this is compassion and suffering. A lot of the injuries that happen to wildlife are because of human behaviour and how we have changed the world and the habitat. From that perspective, we have a duty of care to our wildlife. Wildlife Rescue Cork does not just treat wildlife from Cork, it takes in animals from Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford and Limerick. It is a real beacon in Munster for their work. Funding for the sector will allow it to professionalise further and to continue education programmes. It also takes on interns as they do in other centres such as in Kildare. It will allow them to have guaranteed funding to progress salaried positions to care for these animals around the clock, which they already do anyway. The resources they have are very much stretched. They should not be relying so heavily on public donations. They provide training programmes for vets and veterinary nurses on how to treat wildlife in practice. That training element is important as well. Wildlife centres are vital to enhancing biodiversity in Ireland. We lag behind many countries in preserving biodiversity as opposed to the environment itself. It is my understanding that we are among the lowest in the EU for land that is protected for birds, for example. Similarly, we are far behind the global target of 30% for protection of land and marine. We need to work better towards our general targets in this regard. This motion is a start. It would be transformative for the work already happening, which we need to recognise. A lot of the public are simply not aware that if you find an animal injured on the road or wherever or if it flies into your home, there is somewhere you can bring it and there is help to be found. I think the public want to be able to help when they see an animal in pain or in need. It is a much cheaper option long term because it is much more expensive to restore a population of animals in decline or ecosystems in decline. This is actually a preventative measure. It is really welcome that the Government is supporting this motion.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-29