1577. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the reintroduction of the red kite to County Wicklow; the number of birds each year since the policy was launched; plans for expansion or reintroduction of other species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58913/26]

Red Kites were re-introduced to Wicklow under a project managed by the Golden Eagle Trust in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Welsh Kite Trust. Young kites were collected from Wales and released in Wicklow during the years 2007 to 2011, with a total of 120 young being released in Wicklow and a further 30 in Co. Dublin in 2011. The project is now finished. The species is being monitoring and is well established and spreading throughout Wicklow and neighbouring counties.

In 2020, the NPWS began a second phase White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction Project to bolster the existing eagle population in Ireland. The original reintroduction programme (2007-2011) involved releasing 100 young white-tailed eagles in Killarney National Park, County Kerry. The released eagles subsequently dispersed widely throughout Ireland with the first successful breeding occurring in 2012 on Lough Derg, County Clare. The programme ended in 2025 and it oversaw the release of some 245 chicks into the wild. It is estimated there are now approx. 150 individual eagles in the wild Ireland, enough to maintain and self-sustain the population. So far in 2026, the exact number of chicks born in the wild is unknown, but 18 pairs are known to have nested

The NPWS began a re-introduction programme for Osprey in 2023, and since then over 40 osprey chicks have been released into the wild.

The success of all these programmes has been bolstered by local landowners and farmers, without whose enthusiastic support in monitoring nest sites and care of birds the Project could not have succeeded. There is currently no plan to expand the re-introduction programmes. The NPWS is however, focusing its resources on supporting the Natura Community for Birds Programme and the various bird -based EIPs in partnership with other Departments and organisations.