128. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide details of third-party bodies who conduct counts of bird species in Ireland on behalf of his Department or the National Parks and Wildlife Service; the details of how these bodies are selected; when further selections are planned; and the criteria for selection. [39200/24]

129. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how the National Parks and Wildlife Service conducts counts of bird species in Ireland, including the standards and scientific basis underpinning the count process; and whether counts are subject to independent peer review. [39201/24]

130. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures put in place to ensure consistency and alignment in the methodologies used for counts of bird species in Ireland with those used in Northern Ireland. [39202/24]

131. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of the methodologies and agencies and external bodies involved in conducting assessments on the status and trends of bird species as required under Article 12 of the Birds Directive. [39203/24]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 128, 129, 130 and 131 together.

Article 12 of the Birds Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC) requires Member States to report on the implementation of national provisions taken under the Directive, including specific reporting on status and trends of bird species. Ireland’s Article 12 reporting is informed by data, analyses, reports and publications from a variety of sources. These sources include reports provided under procurement for external services, with deliverables produced under the guidance, direction and management of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department, and those made available/sourced from other bodies, institutions and agencies, such as scientific papers, datasets, publications and reports. All assessments for Article 12 are produced in accordance with the strict criteria and guidance for reporting under Article 12. The current methods, guidelines and format requirements for reporting under Article 12 of the Birds Directive are available at the European Environment Agency website at:cdr.eionet.europa.eu/help/birds_art12

The design and execution of specific bird monitoring projects and programmes are dependent upon the particular objectives relevant to the focal bird populations in question. Different methods of observation may be required depending on the species and their ecology (e.g. direct observation, by calls, vantage point surveys or transects). The NPWS typically publishes Irish Wildlife Manuals after the conclusion of a survey, or from time to time, in the case of multi-annual counts. Peer reviewed publications are regularly published for some counts and surveys, such as the Countryside Bird Survey and the Irish Wetland Bird Survey.

When commissioning third parties to coordinate and/or conduct counts of bird species in Ireland, the NPWS undertakes a tendering process, in line with public procurement requirements and guidelines. Service providers are selected following a competitive public procurement process. Further selections are planned periodically, and are aligned with specific conservation projects and budgets. Selection criteria generally include relevant experience and expertise, capacity, and adherence to regulatory requirements. Details of bird surveys from 2022 to the present date are provided below.

Upholding a consistency of approach when surveying across jurisdictions is desirable, as such approaches allow for data collected to be pooled in order to provide valuable information on a bird population’s status at various scales be it at the national, all-island, Ireland and Great Britain or at the European scale. Examples of previous cross border (and wider scale) initiatives include Balmer et al’s 2014 Bird Atlas 2007-11: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland and Burnell et al’s 2023 Seabirds Count – a census of breeding seabirds in Britain and Ireland (2015-2021).