THE government has stressed that it has no plans to sell Killarney National Park or to privatise its management, preservation or conservation.
Reports that the country’s six national parks could be offloaded have been dismissed by Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Minister, Jimmy Deenihan, who said the facilities are held in trust by the people and that would not change.
“There are no plans whatsoever to sell these parks,” he said.
The government has pointed out that the core work of park staff, including regional management and rangers, is to secure and preserve national parks so that they can be enjoyed by visitors and conserved for future generations.
National Parks and Wildlife Service employees also oversee a network of nature reserves, natural heritage areas and special areas of conservation but some services, such as boat tours, pony trekking or jarvey trips, are provided by private individuals and companies.
Other services, like catering and cleaning services, have been provided, on fixed-term contracts, by individual contractors.
Minister Deenihan said his department is always looking at ways to improve the tourism and education dimensions and visitor services at national parks. He is currently examining ways to expand education services on an outreach basis by working with agencies such as the Heritage Council.
“In this way, augmenting the facilities that are available to visitors to the national parks through working and co-operating with others is not a new phenomenon,” he said.
“The priority is to manage, preserve and conserve the national parks, to provide excellent access and services to the public, and to do so whilst making the best use of the resources we receive from the taxpayer,” the minister added.
