Three busy Laois roads are experiencing a high level of deer crossing them and this is causing serious concern.
So a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee heard on Monday from Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley.
According to Deputy Stanley, the three roads in question are the N77 from Abbeyleix to Durrow, the Abbeyleix to Ballacolla road and the road between the Montague Hotel and Ballybrittas.
Deputy Stanley said: “One man that I know, a farmer, collided with a deer recently.
“He was in a jeep and luckily was not seriously hurt but there was some damage done to his vehicle.
“I can only imagine what would have happened had it been a smaller vehicle like a car.
“Someone is going to be killed if we don’t seriously tackle this issue.
“There are large stretches of these roads where there is no fencing at all.
“Landowners need to be told to put up fencing immediately.”
In response, Chief Superintendent John Scanlan said that Gardai had liaised with landowners on this.
He said: “We are liaising with landowners in a bid to tackle this problem.
“A significant cull of deer has occurred but we will continue to engage with all parties on this.
“Deer are very difficult animals to control. They have an ability to scale fences and can cover an enormous amount of ground.
“But they can do a lot of damage when they run across roads and we urge drivers to be vigilant.”
