Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 March 2023
135. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the appointment of park manager for each national park has been completed; if he will outline plans for the development of management plans for each of the parks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14216/23]
View answerThe National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is the Executive Agency within my Department with primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves. Our six National Parks, Killarney, Connemara, Wild Nephin, Wicklow Mountains, Glenveagh and The Burren are all managed as Category II National Parks under the criteria set out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).This Government, in its Programme for Government, committed to reviewing the remit, status and funding of the NPWS. That independent, multi-phase Review was completed in Spring 2022. It culminated in a Strategic Action Plan with fifteen key recommendations to renew the NPWS, establish it as an Executive Agency within a Government Department, and made it a more resilient, more effective organisation, fit to meet the current challenges. This Action Plan was accepted by Government and is now being implemented. One of the actions arising has been the strengthening of the management of our National Parks through the appointment of a dedicated Park Manager for each Park. These Park Managers are currently being appointed and are supported by dedicated teams of regional staff.In 2017 the partnership between the NPWS and Fáilte Ireland was created to achieve the shared goal of further developing quality experiences at our National Parks and Nature Reserves. One major output from the Strategic Partnership with Fáilte Ireland, was a Masterplan for the six National Parks. This provides a high level and integrated blueprint for the NPWS to invest in and better manage the Parks for conservation, biodiversity and visitors alike. In effect, it enables the aligning of conservation objectives of the Parks with increasing visitor appeal and numbers. The Masterplan guides the phased development of these enhanced visitor facilities and improved visitor experiences based on research into international best practice. The Department intends to produce visitor and management plans for its National Parks on an on-going basis, the availability of resources permitting.
