A Leitrim councillor says the increasing number of concerns that the public are expressing in relation to rising deer numbers need to be acted on by the relevant authorities.
Cllr Justin Warnock says with more land being planted in the north west for forestry the problem will increase throughout the counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal.
The first major public consultation into the impact of the Irish deer population found that over 80% of respondents said the national deer herd is damaging biodiversity.
Minister for Agriculture, and Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue, launched the new public consultation last year to inform the next phase of the development of the Deer Management Strategy Group.
The consultation received over 1,500 submissions from people all over the country and found that concerns in relation to damage to agricultural crops / grazing, road safety issues, preventing the establishment of new forests and the spreading of TB in cattle were all expressed.
Fianna Fail Councillor Justin Warnock says the study provides evidence that increasing deer numbers are concerning on a number of fronts:
