Joe Higgins
Question:200 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands further to Parliamentary Question No. 8 of 3 June 1999, the way in which she can reconcile her statement that special areas of conservation have legal protection with the stated position of An Bord Pleanála that the obligation under Article 27 of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations to require assessment of proposed developments will only come into force when the European Commission selects the sites to be designated as SACs based on the list of sites which Ireland forwarded to the Commission in view of the fact we have not yet reached that stage. [17090/99]