National Parks and Wildlife Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Deputy for raising this incredibly important matter. I am here to respond on behalf of the Minister for Defence, who unfortunately cannot be here, but she sends her apologies to the House. I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. I acknowledge Deputy Ó Fearghaíl’s long-standing interest in the protection, conservation and preservation of the Curragh Plains and his ongoing engagement with officials in that regard. The Curragh, as State land vested in the Minister for Defence, is recognised as a working environment for the State's Defence Forces as well as being a place of historical and cultural importance. The main occupiers are the Defence Forces in the Curragh Camp and the Curragh Racecourse, which leases a large tract of land. Additionally, the plains are used by sheep owners who avail of rights of pasture on the lands, and by both locals and visitors to Kildare as a major natural amenity. I concur about its scenic beauty any time you drive through County Kildare. The Curragh is approximately 4,870 acres and is one of the most open, accessible, and arguably beautiful areas in this country.
As the Deputy will be aware, for the past several years, the Department of Defence has been collaborating with Kildare County Council on the Curragh consultancy project, seeking to develop a suitable future management method and to highlight the importance and significance of the heritage associated with the Curragh Plains. The project came to completion in December 2024 when the Curragh Plains conservation management plan and the associated branding, interpretation and wayfinding strategy were published. The consultation process identified the need for a review of the Curragh by-laws and the Curragh of Kildare Act, with potential amendments to provide effective solutions to challenges faced. The report also identified the need to consider a dedicated agency responsible for the Curragh, or to assign responsibility for the site to an existing agency with the necessary expertise to maximise the potential of the plains. Throughout the project, both the Department of Defence and Kildare County Council remained cognisant of the need to have in place a means of ensuring conservation of this ancient landscape, while also enabling the area to receive the recognition it deserves. The plan has laid out opportunities through which the area can be uniquely identified and also scoped out the development potential of the area as a high-value visitor attraction. It also aims to balance the needs of the respective users of the Curragh Plains, while caring for its natural qualities and providing clear policies for its sustainable future use.
As called for in the programme for Government, it is intended to implement the recommendations of the conservation plan for the Curragh, particularly in relation to transferring the plains to the agency that is best suited to managing this historic landscape. To this end, Department officials will continue to engage with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which has undertaken an initial scoping of its likely requirements. I understand further discussions are intended in the coming weeks. From this process it is intended to advise Government as to the appropriate way to manage the plains.
I again thank the Deputy for his question and assure him that the Minister’s intention is to ensure that the Curragh Plains, as an important element of our shared heritage, is protected into the future while also ensuring maximum benefit to the local population and to those who come to visit the plains. This Government is fully committed to pursuing a modern and sustainable regulatory model in managing this historically important landscape in the Curragh.

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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/dail/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28