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A TRALEE councillor has called for the local authority to reward people for providing information leading to prosecutions for the setting of illegal gorse fires.
Sinn Féin Cllr. Cathal Foley was speaking at the online meeting of Tralee Municipal District of Kerry County Council on Monday.
He had a motion before the Council that in light of the lack of prosecutions in regard to the illegal setting of wildfires, that Kerry County Council in future offer rewards for information that leads to successful prosecutions.
Cllr Foley there are more and more fires set every year and while thousands of man hours are spent by the fire service in tackling them, there never seems to be any prosecutions.
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He said that as Kerry is a tourism county, to have the the natural beauty of the mountains destroyed should not be tolerated. Cllr Foley acknowledged that many farmers burn gorse fires responsibly, but others just set them and leave them out of control.
In reply, Council management said if there are breaches of wildlife protection laws, they may be the subject of legal action by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The Council is not the authorised body with the powers of enforcement and as such has a limited role in the matter.
It is illegal to burn any vegetation between March 1 and August 31 (bird nesting season). The Council urges the public to report all illegal activity to An Garda Síochána for investigation. The NPWS has taken in the region of eight prosecutions under the Wildlife Acts since 2010 for illegal burning of vegetation in Counties Clare, Cork, and Kerry.
Fines have ranged from €50 to €600, and in some cases defendants also paid the prosecution sides legal costs and expenses.
