Cillian McLaughlin

Good morning, Clare.

I think that from my perspective, I advocate for a science-led approach to this.

So I can't answer the question because nobody has actually established how many deer there are.

You quoted one estimate of 600,000.

I've seen that put between 400,000 deer.

So there's a huge margin for error there.

And we need to find out

How many deer are there and what our sustainable carrying capacity is first before we make any decisions?

It seems to me that culling is the answer.

Now, what is the question?

Nobody has asked these questions and that's where my queries come from.

How many deer?

What's the sustainable carrying capacity?

Nobody's looking at these and I'm advocating for a science evidence led approach to this.

rather than what appears to be anecdotal evidence that deer numbers are increasing and causing problems.

Firstly, we need to establish what our baseline population is at the moment and then what our carrying capacity is.

Well, the Sika deer was introduced as an ornamental animal on the estates around Wicklow and in County Tyrone.

And deer are very good at escaping.

And they hopped over the fences and they established themselves in the Irish countryside.

The Sika deer that we have in Ireland originated in Japan, I believe, the smaller Sika deer.