Midland counties are “vomiting deer” says Lower Ormond councillor

A LOCAL councillor told a recent meeting that there's a big problem with deer in North Tipperary and South Offaly.
Cllr Michael O'Meara told the May meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that he came across “two deer on the side of the road in my area recently. Each deer weighed about 350 kilos. I wonder, are these animals being tested for TB? There's a lot of them in my part of the county, in the Lorrha area. As someone said to me recently, the country is vomiting deer. I am also wondering which body looks after what. For example, when a car hits a deer and it's left on the side of the road what is the situation with that? Does the Council pick it up? Or the NPWS?”
Cllr Phyll Bugler said the high number of deer is a “huge problem” across Tipperary. “The problem is so prevalent. It's important to add that TB is also a major problem in North Tipperary. Incidents of TB are up by about 6% in the region. The maximum price the government will compensate a farmer to cull an infected milk cow is €2,800. Meanwhile we are vaccinating the badgers, about €350 per badger. There are lots of farmers with big farms of 200, 300, 400 cattle whose farms have been shut down because of a Badger TB outbreak. Deer are crossing busy roads, breaking down fences. Is there any market for venison? There used to be a great market for it in France. There has been a worrying explosion of deer numbers and we should write to the relevant Minister about this problem and ask him is anything being done to tackle the issue. In Wicklow they called for a plan for the culling of deer and they got it. We should get the same in North Tipperary.”
Cllr Fiona Bonfield, Cathaoirleach, said they would raise the issue during the next meeting of the full County Council.
A member of the Council Executive pointed out that if there's a dead deer on the road, people should “call the County Council and arrangements can be made. The County Council doesn't have control of the general deer management policy.”
The councillors also talked about the stress which farmers undergo when they are visited by agricultural inspectors. A member of the Council Executive told them that common problems during farm inspections include insufficient storage space and non-separation of materials. “Some of these farms haven't been brought up to speed for many years,” he remarked.