Vol. 525 No. 5
338 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands her views on whether designation is being targeted towards disadvantaged areas and very often consideration is driven by tourism development planning and not by conservation. [25826/00]
Proposals to designate natural heritage areas, special areas of conservation and special protection areas solely relate to those areas meeting the scientific criteria applying to these types of designations. Less developed parts of the country tend to contain a higher proportion of areas with natural habitats and populations of species meeting the scientific criteria. Tourism development planning plays no part in the selection of areas for conservation designations.
