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38 2000

WILDLIFE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2000

Chapter III

Miscellaneous

Amendment of section 41 (falconry etc.) of Principal Act.

47. —Section 41 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1):

(a) by the substitution of “Notwithstanding anything contained in section 22 or 23 of this Act, the Minister may make regulations” for “The Minister may make regulations”,

(b) by the substitution, in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), of “owls, buzzards, kites, vultures, harriers and other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes” for “and other birds of the order Falconiformes”,

(c) by the insertion, in paragraph (b), of “breeding or” before “training”, and

(d) by the substitution, in paragraph (d), of the following for subparagraph (ii):

“(ii) take, have in his possession or under his control any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes or the eggs or young of any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes,

(iii) engage in breeding any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other bird of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes,”,

and the said subsection (1) (other than paragraphs (e) and (f)), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 22 or 23 of this Act, the Minister may make regulations—

(a) regulating hunting by means of eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, buzzards, kites, vultures, harriers and other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes trained to hawk for sport, or otherwise governing the practice of falconry,

(b) regulating the taking of eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, buzzards, kites, vultures, harriers and other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes for breeding or training to hawk for sport,

(c) regulating the possession, breeding, training to hawk for sport, display or exhibition of eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, buzzards, kites, vultures, harriers and other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes,

(d) providing that a person shall not, save under and in accordance with a licence granted in that behalf by the Minister—

(i) engage in falconry,

(ii) take, have in his possession or under his control any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes or the eggs or young of any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes,

(iii) engage in breeding any eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, buzzard, kite, vulture, harrier or other birds of the orders Accipitriformes, Falconiformes and Strigiformes,

Amendment of section 42 (damage by wild birds etc.) of Principal Act.

48. —Section 42 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the insertion of “serious” before “damage”,

(ii) by the insertion, in paragraph (a), of “food (including human food products and animal feeds)” before “livestock”,

(iii) by the deletion of “or” after the word “plantation” in paragraph (e) and the addition of the following after paragraph (f):

“(g) buildings and other structures and their contents, or

(h) aquaculture installations,”,

(iv) by the insertion of “scaring,” before “capture”,

(b) by the insertion of the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) Any person who by act or omission impedes or obstructs a person authorised by the Minister in the lawful exercise of a power conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.”,

(c) by the insertion, in subsection (4), of “scare,” before “capture”,

(d) by the deletion, in subsection (5), of “, to the forester in charge of any forest owned by the Minister”, and

(e) by the substitution of the following for subsection (6):

“(6) In addition to the foregoing, the following provisions shall apply in relation to a permission granted under this section:

(a) the permission shall be valid only for such period and in relation to such area as are specified therein,

(b) particulars of all protected wild birds and protected wild animals captured or killed pursuant to the permission shall be furnished to the Minister by the person to whom the permission is given at such times and in such form as is specified in the permission,

(c) notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Minister may grant the permission subject to conditions which may include one or more of the following:

(i) that any scaring, capture or killing pursuant to the permission is to be effected by a specified means,

(ii) that any wild bird or any wild animal captured or killed pursuant to the permission shall have affixed to it a tag or other mark of identification to be specified by the Minister,

(iii) that any wild bird or any wild animal captured pursuant to the permission shall be removed to a place specified by the Minister for subsequent release or be disposed of in such other manner as may be so specified,

(iv) that any wild bird or any wild animal killed pursuant to the permission shall be removed to a place specified by the Minister or be disposed of in such other manner as may be so specified,

(v) that the total number of any particular species of protected wild bird or protected wild animal captured or killed pursuant to the permission shall be limited to such number as is specified in the permission.”,

and the said subsections (1) (other than paragraphs (b) to (f)), (4) and (5), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) Where serious damage is being caused by protected wild birds or by protected wild animals to—

(a) food (including human food products and animal feeds), livestock, poultry or agricultural crops (including vegetables or fruit) either on pasture or on cultivated land,

(g) buildings and other structures and their contents, or

(h) aquaculture installations,

notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Minister may cause to be taken by a person authorised by him in that behalf (who is hereby empowered to take) such steps, including entering on any land and the scaring, capture or killing of any such wild bird or any such wild animal, as he thinks appropriate to stop the damage.

(4) An application to the Minister for a permission under this section shall include particulars of the damage in relation to which the application is made and in case the Minister decides to grant the permission, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the permission shall, subject to its terms, operate to enable the owner or occupier, or any other person duly authorised to act on his behalf, to scare, capture or kill any protected wild bird or any protected wild animal which the owner, occupier or other person reasonably believes is causing the damage and to take such other steps (if any) to stop the damage as are specified in the permission.

(5) An application for a permission under this section may be made to the Minister or to any other person who is authorised for the time being by the Minister to receive such applications.

Amendment of section 43 (land drainage schemes) of Principal Act.

49. —Section 43 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1)—

(a) by the substitution of “Arterial Drainage Acts, 1945 and 1995” for “Arterial Drainage Act, 1945”,

(b) by the insertion of “which is likely or liable to affect, or to interfere with, or is” before “in respect of an area”,

(c) by the insertion of “or land particulars of which have been included in a notice or order under Chapter II of Part III of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000” after “section 18 of this Act applies”, and

(d) by the insertion of “nature reserve, refuge, natural heritage area or area subject to a notice served under section 16 (2)(b) of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000” for “nature reserve or refuge”,

and the said subsection (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) Where the Commissioners propose to undertake either—

(a) a drainage scheme within the meaning of the Arterial Drainage Acts, 1945 and 1995, which is one to which this section applies, or

(b) any other land drainage scheme,

which is likely or liable to affect, or to interfere with, or is in respect of an area which includes land to which an establishment order, a recognition order or a designation order applies, or land to which an agreement made under section 18 of this Act applies or land particulars of which have been included in a notice or order under Chapter II of Part III of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000, the Commissioners shall, before commencing the scheme, consult the Minister to ascertain if and to what extent the proposed scheme if carried out would affect or interfere with the suitability of the land affected by the scheme for a nature reserve, refuge or natural heritage area, as may be appropriate, and take all practicable steps including, where appropriate, the limitation of the drainage scheme to minimise or avoid such effect or interference.

Amendment of section 44 (unlawful hunting or entry on land and other miscellaneous matters) of Principal Act.

50. —Section 44 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (c) of subsection (1):

“(c) carries on the land—

(i) any firearm, or

(ii) any net, or other weapon, instrument or device capable of being used for hunting a wild bird or a wild animal,

or”,

(b) in subsection (2), by the insertion of the following after paragraph (b):

“(bb) an authorised person or a member of the Garda Síochána,”,

(c) by the insertion of the following after subsection (2):

“(2A) An authorised person or a member of the Garda Síochána in exercising a power under subsection (2) of this section may size any firearm, other weapon or device or part thereof.”,

(d) by the substitution of the following for subsection (7):

“(7) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove that, at the time of the offence, a defendant—

(a) was on the land without lawful authority, or

(b) was not the owner or occupier of the land,

and in case a defendant claims that he was on the land with lawful authority or is either the owner or occupier of the land, the onus of proving such authority, or that he is the owner or occupier of the land, shall be on the defendant.”.