Licence to Stop Damage to Flora and Fauna by Wild Animals

Section 42 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (as amended) provides, inter alia, that where protected wild animals or birds are causing serious damage to:

• food (including human food products and animal feeds), livestock, poultry or agricultural crops (including vegetables or fruit) either on pasture or on cultivated land
• pen-reared wild birds on any land
• other fauna
• flora
• a woodland or a forest plantation, or  a fishery
• buildings and other structures and their contents, or aquaculture installations

The owner or occupier may on application to the Minister seek a permission to take appropriate steps to stop the damage.

Download: Section 42 Application Form

Applications are investigated by local staff to determine if serious damage is being caused and if so the most practical method of stopping or controlling the problem. In this regard the conservation status of the particular species involved is given every consideration. The decision made to grant or refuse the licence is made by an officer designated by the Minister to issue licences on his/her behalf.

Please note that from October 2013 your attention is drawn to the requirement to provide a map clearly marking the area where serious damage is being caused by deer.