A working group is to be set up to examine the impact of an EU ban on the use of lead shot in and around Irish wetlands, Minister of State, Malcolm Noonan has confirmed.
In January 2021, the European Commission decided to restrict the use of lead gun ammunition in wetlands across all 27 EU member states.
The ban is set to come into force from February 15 2023.
This restriction also allows member states to ban lead shot in all areas if over 20% of a country’s territory is deemed to be wetlands.
However, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has confirmed that 18.72% or 1.3 million ha of the land in Ireland is identified as wetlands.
This includes estuaries; inland marshes; peat bogs; moors and water courses.
As a result, the EU ban on lead shot will only apply to Irish wetland areas and not to the entire country.
Lead Shot
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has stated that although lead is toxic to people and wildlife, it has been commonly used in ammunition for hunting and sports shooting for centuries.
As a result of this, the agency estimates that 100,000t of lead is dispersed into the environment across the EU annually.
The ECHA explained that the use of lead ammunition or fishing tackle containing lead is known to cause lead poisoning of wildlife, such as birds.
It outlined that human health may also be impacted by the residual lead present in game.
The group said that the ban “will prevent the avoidable death by lead poisoning of around one million water birds every year”.
The use of steel gunshot ammunition is the most common alternative to lead.
Working Group
However, some concerns have been raised about the costs associated with adjusting or replacing lead shot guns used by hunters and farmers.
Minister with responsibility for heritage, Malcolm Noonan has said that he fully supports the underlying thrust of the EU regulation and is committed to working with all stakeholders to phase out lead shot in wetlands.
“It’s clear that lead in the environment is undesirable for humans and can cause harm too to water birds,” he stated.
The minister said that in the coming weeks he plans to appoint a chairperson to a working group which will “scope out the impact of the regulation”.
Once that appointment is made the terms of reference for the group will be agreed.
Among the issues that the working group will discuss with key stakeholders is the implementation and enforcement of these regulations.
“I do not want to pre-empt the work of the forum; there are complex issues that need to be discussed with the relevant bodies and enforcement agencies, and I will await the output from the forum before making any further comments in relation to how the regulations will be enforced,” the minister concluded.