I propose to take Questions Nos. 27, 36, 41 and 53 together.
The Rockabill to Dalkey Island candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is one of six additional marine sites proposed for designation to meet Ireland’s obligations under the Habitats Directive. The harbour porpoise is the principal conservation interest of the site, though it also contains small areas of geogenic reef, which are also afforded protection. Like all species of cetaceaen, the harbour porpoise enjoys strict protection under Article 12 of the Habitats Directive wherever it occurs, whether within or outside a designated area.
My Department was consulted in advance of the issuing of the consents referred to in the questions. Advice was provided to both the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resource on the protection of marine mammals, including the harbour porpoise, and on appropriate mitigation measures that should be employed during the survey. Where a site is proposed for designation as an SAC, consent authorities are required to consider the implications of proposals on the site, in keeping with Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, before consents are granted. However, I understand that the consents referred to were granted before I notified my intention to designate the Rockabill to Dalkey Island SAC. Any future consent for exploration, extraction or any other activity within or in the vicinity of the SAC will need to be examined for potential impacts upon it. Consent authorities will need to satisfy themselves that proposed projects do not pose a risk to the integrity of this and other sites before issuing such consents.
In preparing proposals for designation, my Department would normally be in contact informally with relevant bodies as part of the process of preparing formal proposals and in preparing the scientific grounds for proposals. My Department had made known for some time it had planned to designate additional marine sites and this would have been known to the Departments referred to in the Questions. Those Departments are now being consulted on the proposed designation, on a formal basis, in accordance with the regulatory framework.
