Vol. 509 No. 6
496 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if the European Commission is continuing with legal proceedings against her Department in relation to special areas of conservation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21511/99]
The Habitats Directive requires member states to propose relevant natural areas for designation as special areas of conservation and to protect their favourable conservation status. It also requires member states to transmit a list of the proposed areas together with full information on each site to the EU Commission within three years of the date of the notification of the directive, that is by June 1995. The directive specifies scientific criteria for the selection of these areas.
The directive was transposed into Irish law by means of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 94/97). My Department has publicly advertised 335 proposed candidate SACs and it has formally transmitted 145 of these sites to the European Commission for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network. The Commission has instituted legal proceedings against Ireland for the non-transmission of sites and these proceedings are still in place.
The EU Commission agrees with me, and with the Government, that the viability of the Natura 2000 network of sites is dependent on the co-operation of the landowners and land users whose lands are included in the sites. I believe that all those whose lands are proposed for SAC designation must be given an opportunity to object to the proposals, on scientific grounds, before I formally transmit the list to the Commission. To this end I have provided an opportunity to landowners and to land users to have their appeals examined informally by Dúchas, the Heritage Service of my Department. I have also established an appeals board, chaired by Mr. Michael Mills, the former Ombudsman, and comprising representation from landowners and conservation organisations, to independently assess appeals and to advise me on these matters.
