Vol. 525 No. 5
102 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the progress made to date in implementing EU directives for which her Department has responsibility; the latest position regarding legal action by the EU Commission in regard to implementation of these directives and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25572/00]
The Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive are the only directives relevant to the Deputy's question.
The Habitats Directive was transposed into Irish law by means of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, in March 1997 under the last Government. A total of 363 sites, covering over 800,000 hectares have been publicly proposed for designation and receive protection in Irish law from the date of public notification in each case. Prior to my appointment as Minister, no sites had been formally transmitted to the EU Commission but I have since transmitted 320 sites. I have accepted an obligation to transmit the balance by the end of this month, in the context of approval of EU funding for the national development plan.
The EU Commission initiated proceedings against Ireland for a failure to implement the EU Habitats Directive in March 1999. The failure related to the non-transmission of special areas of conservation as required by Article 4(1) of the directive. At that time Ireland had advertised 207 sites but only 48 of these had been formally transmitted. The Irish defence to this case has been submitted to the European Court of Justice and an oral hearing has been requested. As previously stated, my Department has now formally transmitted 320 candidate SACs to the EU Commission.
The EU Birds Directive requires member states to establish special protection areas for areas hosting internationally important populations of bird species and for bird habitats. 110 SPAs have been established to date covering 220,000 hectares of land and my Department has agreed to extend some existing SPAs and designate some new SPAs in 2001.
