Wildlife Rehabilitation Support Scheme: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29 ============================================================ Malcolm Noonan (GP), Agricultural Panel I thank my Cross-Party Group colleagues. I welcome the Minister of State's response. It behoves all of us, going by what the Cathaoirleach said, to make changes in all our lives to help to minimise our impact on the natural world and become active participants in restoration, because in restoring nature, we are restoring ourselves, our wellbeing, our food security, and our resilience against climate chaos. There remains a deep disconnect between our understanding of what we need to do and our behaviour as consumers, which is really driving species and habitats loss. We might think that wildlife rescues could only ever play only a small part in our efforts to turn the tide of biodiversity loss, but in a country where some species are present in precariously low numbers, every bird rescued, rehabilitated and released where it came from could make all the difference in a breeding season. The Minister of State could be formalising roles for our network of wildlife rehabilitation centres in expanding headstarting programmes for curlew, corncrake and other vulnerable species. In County Monaghan this year, we have seen some success with headstarted curlew now forming breeding pairs. Ramping up such programmes in tandem with landscape-scale nature restoration could give us the critical mass we need to move some species towards viable populations. Indeed, we see the success of programmes at Cooldross and Boora, where, as the Minister of State mentioned, there is strength in numbers. Where there are more lapwing on a site, that allows them to mob predators and increase survival rates. For now, there is the day to day. The Minister of State has mentioned some of the one-off grants. What I have seen from my few visits to Kildare Wildlife Rescue, as I am sure Laura will bear this out from her visit to Cork, is a service that goes beyond meeting basic requirements of licensing, but excelling at best practice wildlife care. Kildare Wildlife Rescue runs an annual conference on behalf of the network. I attended last year and was hugely impressed at the level of information-sharing, the range of specialist speakers and the collective drive towards excellence in the field of wildlife rehabilitation. It is this level of professionalism that sparked this motion and initiative from our Cross-Party Group here today. It needs to be recognised and valued by the State and the most tangible way of doing this is by putting in place a dedicated multi-annual stream of funding. It will drive excellence over time, improve the handling and treatment of wildlife in the veterinary profession, train more and more people and provide valuable outreach to communities who want to be part of this great collective and collaborative project of restoring nature on land and at sea. Yesterday, I attended the UCD earth institute seminar on Ireland’s nature restoration plan. I know that the Minister of State is just back from the National Botanic Gardens, where the recommendations for Ireland's plan were formally received by the Government. I commend Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, the independent advisory committee and everyone who has contributed thus far. One of the key challenges identified among the recommendations is that of bringing everybody with us. The outreach work provided by rescues across the country provides an invaluable asset to these efforts, educating, informing and advising. Most of all, it will give the sector the confidence to provide a professional service and allow such services to grow over time. If the Minister of State gets to visit one of the rescue centres during his tenure, he will find people dedicated and passionate about wildlife and caring for wild mammals and birds. I must also reference the comprehensive review of wildlife legislation that I initiated during my time in the Department. Such a review should, I hope, trigger new and more up-to-date legislation across all facets of wildlife and nature governance. It would be really helpful if we could formalise the role of wildlife rehabilitation through enabling legislation. There is a narrow scope in legislation towards licensing for the handling of wildlife but limited recognition of how the needs of the sector have changed and grown over recent years. The year 2026 is the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, a man who cared deeply for nature and wildlife. He said that we are all sisters and brothers to animals and plants, water and soil, earth and sky. What a great statement from the State it would be if, on St. Francis's anniversary, we were to put resources into the care of our vulnerable wildlife and begin to turn around a terrible legacy of destruction of nature towards a restorative one. I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I recognise that he is not opposing the motion, but I also ask that he actively support it and find the means to put in place a permanent scheme, however that is done, whether in budget 2027 or, as has been suggested by Senator Stephenson, through money ring-fenced from wildlife crime. I again thank my Cross-Party Group for bringing forward this motion. We have a good track record in this House for the initiatives we bring forward. They are always very positive, be they motions or Bills. It goes to show what a progressive left alliance can do in the Seanad Chamber. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-29