Seagull pest eliminated at Health HQ

The spectre of dive-bombing seagulls attacking maintenance workers on the top of the Department of Health’s Hawkins House HQ in Dublin has been eliminated.

This follows the department confirming yesterday that a British pest control firm has erected netting on the roof to combat the problem of seagulls at Hawkins House.

The firm, Mitie Pest Control was in a race against time to eliminate the problem before the seagulls nested on top of Hawkins House for the Summer.

According to a Department of Health spokeswoman, “once the seagulls have nested access to the roof becomes limited due to the risk of attacks on maintenance crews”.

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She pointed out that maintenance crews require access to the roof on a regular basis to attend the numerous mobile phone masts erected there while in-house maintenance staff require access for general maintenance on the roof.

She added that once the birds have nested “they are protected and cannot be disturbed so preventative measures must be in place before nesting begins”.

The spokeswoman said the department didn’t know if the seagull problem becoming worse was “due to an increase in the seagull population or to the fact that other tall buildings in the vicinity have installed pest control measures resulting in the seagulls seeking the nearest unprotected area to nest. i.e. Hawkins House”.

The department declined to state how much the contract was worth saying the information is commercially sensitive.

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