Minister for the Environment John Gormley is still considering an application for a licence from the Ward Union Hunt in Co Meath to hunt live stags.
A decision is also awaited on the renewal of licences to coursing clubs to legally trap hares for the new season which begins next month. There has been speculation that the Minister will refuse the stag hunting licence and will grant permission for hares to be netted.
A spokesman said the Minister was still giving consideration to the Ward Union Hunt for an application to hunt "carted" stags and he would make a decision "in due course". A letter has yet to be issued to the coursing clubs about whether they can net hares.
Carted stags are those reared by a hunting group and brought by cart to a specific area where they are released and then hunted. A decision on both stag hunting and hare trapping is likely within days, because of the approach of the new season.
The Ward Union is the only hunting group to apply to hunt carted stags. There is no mechanism in Irish law to ban hunting. Under the Wildlife Act the Minister can issue or refuse a licence.
The Minister licences a stag hunt itself, based on the conservation of wildlife, giving consideration to the conduct of the hunt and the treatment of the deer.
The Ward Union was involved in controversy last January when a stag was chased into a playground at the national school in Kildalkey, Co Meath, followed by the hunt's dogs, as children were leaving the school.
