Heritage minister, Malcolm Noonan has visited the site of an illegal 300ha fire in Wicklow Mountains National Park and announced increased patrols and aerial surveillance in national parks and reserves to support early detection and deterrence of fires.

He said that illegal upland burning devastates vulnerable wildlife and habitats during the breeding season, adding that it also impacts on local people’s health and wellbeing, private property, tourism, emergency services, the defence forces and public monies.

“Today I visited Wicklow Mountains National Park, where well over 300ha of natural habitat have been damaged and destroyed over the past few days through illegal upland fires," the minister said.

"The same scenes have played out in other locations across the country during the latest Met Eireann Orange High Fire Risk alert.

"We all remember the devastation that was caused by the vast illegal fire in Killarney National Park last April," he added.

Minister Noonan said that the fires do not occur naturally and are set deliberately, with "no concern for the wide-ranging impacts".

"That’s without mentioning the priceless wildlife and habitats that are brutally scorched and the consequent impact of soil mobilisation and siltation on streams, rivers and lakes," he said.

"They are all illegal after March 1 and invariably they get - or are allowed to get - out of control. The people who set them, and I believe they are known in their communities, are a scourge on society and their activities cost all of us," the minister added.

The minister has warned anyone intending to start a fire that aerial surveillance operations, using drones and helicopters, have been increased to support early detection and deterrence.

As well as this, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) maintains increased on-the-ground patrols at all national parks and reserves at times of high fire risk.

"I have increased NPWS’s staffing resource considerably since taking office and growing the organisation further is a key priority for me," Noonan said.

Minister Noonan said that he will progress the implementation of a coordinated response across the Department of Heritage, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, as a matter of urgency.

Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts 1976, as amended, prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation, with certain strict exemptions, from March 1 to August 31.