Seán Kyne
Question:966. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps being taken to de-designate natural heritage areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29216/15]
View answerTuesday, 14 July 2015
Questions (966)
Written answers
The Review of the Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network was published in January 2014 and concluded that Ireland could more effectively achieve conservation of threatened raised bog habitats through focused protection and restoration of a reconfigured network. This will entail the phasing out of turf-cutting on certain natural heritage areas by 1 January 2017 and the partial or complete de-designation of certain natural heritage areas.
Some 46 natural heritage areas (including parts of 7 natural heritage areas) are scheduled for de-designation.
Regulatory change will be required to give full effect to the de-designation of the sites. The appropriate form of this change is being considered within my Department. I expect that the process will be completed by the end of the year.