Vol. 560 No. 3
420 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the dramatic impact the introduction of SPAs will have on land values in these regions; and if there are proposals to compensate landowners affected by these designations. [2672/03]
Ireland now has more than 100 special protection areas, SPAs, designated under the EU Birds Directive, some of which have been in place for a considerable number of years. My Department is not aware of any evidence of these designations having a dramatic impact on land values. The designation of SPAs does not in itself give rise to any entitlement to or need for compensation. Compensation is payable when financial losses arise from restrictions imposed on existing activity, to meet conservation requirements resulting from designation. The Government remains committed to payment of compensation to land owners on this basis as and when it arises. Farmers in the REP scheme receive higher rates of payment if their lands are within a designated SPA.
The Oireachtas undertook a comprehensive review of planning legislation in the Planning and Development Act 2000. Under this recently enacted legislation, planning permissions may be refused or conditioned by reference to the requirements of bird habitats under SPAs without normally giving rise to planning compensation.
421 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the studies which have been undertaken by Dúchas to show the impact of wind farms on the displacement of hen harriers out of their existing habitats. [2673/03]
Two studies have been commissioned by my Department on the implications of wind farm development for the conservation of hen harriers.
The first, which is being undertaken by postgraduate scientists under my Department's supervision, is designed to study spatial usage, by hunting hen harriers, of a wind farm site with planning permission and an adjacent control site, before and after construction of the wind farm. The second study was carried out under contract in 2002 in County Kerry at the only known location in the country where hen harriers breed close to an operational wind farm. It is at present being peer reviewed and will be made available following this process.
422 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the basis on which Dúchas has selected the SPAs; and the studies which they have undertaken to justify this extreme course of action for these regions. [2674/03]
The EU Birds Directive requires member states, among other things, to designate special protection areas, SPAs, for birds requiring special attention, including vulnerable and rare species and migratory species. It also obliges member states to designate wetlands of international importance.
The main selection criteria in relation to SPAs have included the following: that the area is used regularly by 1% or more of the population of bird species listed in Annex 1 of the birds directive; that the area is used by 1% or more of the population of a regularly occurring migratory species; and that the area is used by over 20,000 waterfowl or 20,000 seabirds in one season.
Other criteria include issues relating to population size and density, species range, breeding success, history of occupancy, multi-species areas, naturalness of the area and the existence of severe weather refuges. Bird surveys undertaken or commissioned by my Department, together with information from Birdwatch Ireland and other sources, underpin the above assessments.
