Vol. 513 No. 3
82 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the measures, if any, she has considered to preserve the integrity of national parks and ensure they take precedence where plans are proposed for roads through them to be widened; and if the wildlife community in these areas will benefit from speed reduction measures and chicanes as human communities benefit from village renewal schemes and associated traffic calming measures. [2194/00]
All proposals for development of any kind which might affect a national park are examined by Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department. Each proposal is assessed on its own merits. The social and economic need for any proposal is considered along with the effects it would have on the natural heritage and management of the national park. If a proposal is to proceed every effort is made to ensure any negative impact it might have on the national park is mitigated. There is no fixed set of mitigation measures which apply in all circumstances. Every measure which might reasonably be considered to be of merit in mitigating the negative effects of a particular proposed development is open to consideration.
