Vol. 486 No. 5
18 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the progress, if any, made in setting up special areas of conservation during 1997; the amount paid out in 1997; the amount available for 1998; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2808/98]
24 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the measures, if any, she has in place to protect threatened wildlife habitats in Ireland; the resources, if any, available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2814/98]
41 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will give details of the position in relation to the EU directive on habitats. [2367/98]
Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 18, Uimh. 24 agus Uimh. 41 le céile.
Deputies will be aware that Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (‘the Habitats Directive') was transposed into Irish law on 26 February 1997 by means of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997. Those regulations fully transposed the directive and contain significant additional provisions relating inter alia to compensation, notification of proposed candidate sites to landowners and objections to proposed designations, on scientific grounds only, and appeals against restrictions.
The process of designating special areas of conservation, SAC in accordance with the regulations is well under way, in that the main part of what will be Ireland's SAC network, over 200 sites amounting to some 550,000 hectares, has already been publicly proposed for designation and is accordingly protected. As I informed the House on 27 November and 16 December last, the EU has been notified of our proposals in relation to SAC designations, subject to the outcome of the requisite consultation process. A number of sites proposed as part of that consultation process are the subject of appeals and I will not formally notify the EU Commission of those sites until the appeals have been resolved. I hope that this can be achieved by April.
I hope to be in a position to publish proposals relating to non-priority habitats by mid-1998 and these will be notified to the Commission when any objections or appeals have been resolved. It is expected that the final element of Ireland's SAC network, comprising marine and coastal sites, will be publicly advertised before the end of 1998.
