Heritage Sites Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and thank him for being here to take this Commencement matter. In a way, this feels like Groundhog Day. Several times every single year I have to stand up and talk about the Curragh Plains and the illegal encampments there, causing all sorts of damage and stress. This year, despite previous commitments, I have to do so yet again and I will continue doing so to express the level of frustration people in the area who are impacted feel. This is an important matter regarding the management and protection of the Curragh Plains in County Kildare. It is something I have spoken about many times in this House and in the Lower House. I know the Minister of State passes the Curragh on a weekly basis going to and coming from Cork. It is one of the most important and historic natural amenities in our country. It is deeply valued by the people of County Kildare and holds enormous environmental, sporting, military and cultural significance. Families, walkers, runners, local sporting clubs, golfers and the wider community cherish the Curragh and take enormous pride in it. It is of course the home of the military and of Curragh racing, as well as many trainers and sheep farmers. Unfortunately, illegal encampments on the Curragh have become a recurring issue that arises year after year, causing serious concern and frustration among those who use the plains. We had an encampment of 30 caravans three weeks ago. I welcome the fact action was taken and they are gone, but yet again last night I received information from residents in the area that another encampment has started. I received another message from the owner of a local bed and breakfast who has to close her business when this happens. It is simply not good enough. In 2020, we had 19 encampments and bear in mind, an encampment can be anything up to 40 caravans. In 2021, there were 13; in 2022, there were 20; in 2023, there were 15; and in 2024, there were 25 encampments. The waste removal costs the taxpayer approximately €200,000 on an annual basis. That is a very significant sum of money. Really excellent work was done between Kildare County Council and the Department of Defence on the future of the Curragh Plains where 3,500 respondents wrote in about their cares and concerns about the Curragh. Recommendations were made arising from that. We have yet to see them put in place. I take heart from the interest of the Taoiseach, who spoke on our local radio station, KFM, on Tuesday morning about his hopes that key plans would come before Cabinet within the next few months. It is complex because while this is with the Minister for Defence, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, are also involved and I have had conversations with all of them. It is not just the visual appearance of the encampments that happen as there are major safety concerns. There have been reports of significant damage to the local golf club, and I have seen photographs of that. There has been dangerous and illegal driving of vehicles across the Curragh. There is, again, the large quantities of waste and rubbish. We need a very clear update on the management strategy for the Curragh and I really hope the Minister of State will be able to give some clarity and shed some light on timelines for this. --- 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/2026-05-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-13