Vol. 473 No. 4
218 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht his response to allegations that more than 250 hectares of alpine vegetation and limestone surface of the Burren, County Clare, have been destroyed over the past two years. [1580/97]
I understand that a report commissioned by the Heritage Council in 1996 indicated that land reclamation in the Burren over the period 1994-95 had affected some 250 hectares. This area was spread over 59 individual sites.
I will shortly make regulations to transpose the EU Habitats Directive into Irish law. These will, for the first time, provide the powers necessary to prevent activities or developments which could significantly damage ecologically sensitive areas such as the Burren. The national parks and wildlife service of my Department is committed to preventing any further significant damage to such areas and, towards this end, will continue to monitor the situation very carefully.
