2026-06-23

The Minister of State is very welcome here tonight. I have often described the Curragh Plains in County Kildare as the jewel in the crown of the whole county. It is 4,870 acres of historic and, in the main, undeveloped land. It is home to our Defence Forces, the racing industry and a large number of sheep farmers, along with a number of magnificent sports clubs. As well as being home to those organisations and entities it is also home to many unique plants and bird species. The Curragh Plains conservation plan states that there are over 200 historic sites and monuments on the Curragh, with many more yet to be discovered. I will come back to the Curragh Plains conservation plan later. Along with other Oireachtas colleagues over the last number of weeks, months and at this stage years, I have been raising concerns about the growing number of illegal encampments on the Curragh. In 2024, for example, the Department of Defence spent €186,000 cleaning up after illegal encampments on the Curragh. This is the Curragh of Kildare where there are currently two battlefield sites with no legal protection. The last Curragh of Kildare Act was in 1969, which is 57 years ago. That Act replaced the Acts of 1868, 1870 and 1961. The Curragh Plains conservation management plan includes engagement with a number of bodies and runs to 161 pages. Its conclusion is that we need to review the Curragh by-laws. They were last reviewed in 1969. It also states that we need to look at the Curragh of Kildare Act, and form a dedicated agency. In 2021, along with a number of colleagues, I took part in consultation and that has developed into the particular plan I mention. As I understand it, that plan has been prepared for over a year and a half now, but in a recent reply I have seen the Minister states that she is still working on the implementation of that plan. Unfortunately, over the last number of weeks we have seen, once again, a large number of caravans in an illegal encampment. At one stage the numbers rose to over 100. We also saw the imposition of circus tents on the Curragh. The Curragh is a magnificent facility that is used by many people from the towns of Newbridge, Kildare town, Kilcullen and all the surrounding areas of County Kildare, yet we are being defined by illegal encampments. We are being defined by people who come here and do not respect the Curragh and by extension the people of Kildare. What I am asking for tonight, and I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, has some answers for us, is that the Government will finally realise the importance of the Curragh of Kildare, that the Government will enact the Curragh Plains conservation management plan strategy, and that we will see an entity such as a dedicated agency taking it over. In replies I have received in the last number of weeks, the Minister for Defence has told me that her Department has been in and out of the High Court trying to get injunctions against these illegal encampments. I hope the Minister of State has some good news for all of us who value the Curragh of Kildare as the jewel in the crown of our great county.

I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. I thank the Deputy for raising it. I pass on the apologies of the Minister for Defence that she cannot be here in the Chamber this evening. I acknowledge Deputy Wall's advocacy in this area. During his contribution the Deputy referred to the seriousness of this issue, which is demonstrated in the cross-party support for trying to get this addressed. I addressed this very issue with my colleague Senator O'Loughlin in the Seanad earlier today. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl has also raised this point in the Dáil. It demonstrates the seriousness of the issue and how we are working together to try to have it addressed. Since earlier this year the Curragh has seen several different illegal encampments, including one containing approximately 100 caravans. This has caused a great deal of disruption and anxiety to local stakeholders. The Department of Defence does not accept that those occupying the encampments have any right to reside on the Curragh Plains and it has engaged regularly with the Chief State Solicitor's Office to ensure that all legal steps are taken to promptly protect the plains. The Department initiated legal proceedings in April for relief for trespass in the High Court, and in the preceding months a number of other parties were served with notices and added to the proceedings before the court. On 5 June Mr. Justice Jordan granted an interim court order against 35 named individuals and other persons unknown in occupation on the Curragh. These orders were served on the occupants by bailiffs on the evening of Monday, 8 June with orders to vacate, and the order was served on the occupants of the large encampment on the evening of Friday, 12 June. Further notices to quit were delivered to the encampment on Saturday, 20 June. In terms of addressing these challenges in the longer-term, the Department of Defence is working to ensure that we move to a modern and sustainable regulatory model in managing this historically important landscape. In collaboration with Kildare County Council, the Curragh consultancy project was published in 2024, as the Deputy referenced, which identified the need for a review of the Curragh bye-laws and the Curragh of Kildare Act, and potential amendments to provide effective solutions to challenges faced. The report also identified the need to consider a dedicated agency responsible for the Curragh, or to assign responsibility for the site to an existing agency with the necessary expertise to maximise the potential of the plains. This Government is committed to the implementation of these recommendations to address both the opportunities and challenges, as can be seen by its inclusion in the programme for Government. To this end, Department officials are continuing to engage with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, which has undertaken an initial scoping of their likely requirements. I am informed that officials from the Department's property management branch met with officials from the NPWS on Wednesday last, 17 June, at the Curragh, and undertook a tour of the plains. I am informed this was a very positive engagement and that the appropriate next steps will be identified in the near future. I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter and would like to assure him that it is the Department’s intention to ensure that the Curragh Plains, as an important element of our shared heritage, are protected into the future, while also ensuring maximum benefit to the local population and to those who come to visit the area.

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply. He is 100% right. All the public representatives of County Kildare, particularly those of south Kildare, have continued to raise the importance of the Curragh Plains to everybody in County Kildare. I welcome the fact that a positive meeting took place on 17 June at the Curragh, because when anybody visits the Curragh - we will have thousands of very welcome visitors to the Irish Derby Festival this weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - they go away with a sense of a place that is truly unique in many ways. It is unique in the fact that we can have sporting clubs, as I mentioned, that people can go walking, and that a person can bring pets, etc. There are sports clubs on the edge of it, and it is the home of the Defence Forces and, in the main, to the Irish racing industry. We cannot continue to see the destruction of the Curragh of Kildare and the Department of Defence paying €158,000 year on year to those who do not covet this great asset that we have in County Kildare. Imagine what we could do and what the Department could do with some of the dereliction I mentioned before, with the Curragh camp, if it could spend €158,000 a year on the Curragh rather than having to spend it on the cleanup of illegal encampment. I hope the Minister of State will bring back my concerns, and I know he will, to the Minister for Defence. I have directly engaged with her on the Curragh, as he said, over many years, and with previous Ministers as well. All we want is to see the Curragh have its rightful place as one of the most important places in the whole country, not just in County Kildare. It is a unique place and everybody is welcome as long as they obey and leave no trace behind them.

I thank the Deputy again for his contribution. The Minister for Defence is the custodian and the guardian of the Curragh lands, pursuant to the provisions of the Curragh of Kildare Act 1961. Under that Act, the Curragh Plains are recognised as a working environment for the State's Defence Forces, as well as being a place of historical and cultural importance, as the Deputy alluded to. As I have already stated, the Minister remains fully committed to pursuing a modern and a sustainable regulatory model in managing the historically important landscape that is the Curragh. The Curragh Plains conservation management plan will provide the foundation for implementing the recommendations identified, including the progression of proposals for the future management of the plains. Any such proposals will be brought before the Cabinet to decide on a future management structure. It is right and proper to say that the situation needs to be addressed. It is something that has been raised multiple times. As somebody who is not from the area but has heard it raised in the Order of Business both in the Seanad and Dáil, I give the Deputy a guarantee that I will impress upon the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the urgency of this situation. Plans and proposals are all very important, but what is plain to be seen now is that public representatives who represent the area want to see the implementation and delivery of the plan. This is something that has gone on for too long. I will certainly impress upon the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the urgency of bringing those plans to Cabinet and agreeing an implementation plan as quickly as ever is possible.