Vol. 504 No. 4
233 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if her atten tion has been drawn to the report produced by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council forming the basis of a European court case in Ireland's lack of implementation of the Habitat Directive; the plans, if any, she has to implement the recommendation in the report that an additional 113 raised bogs needed to be designated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12156/99]
234 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Scotland is putting forward between 20 to 30 per cent of the original area of peatland as special areas of conservation; her views on whether there is a greater need for co-ordination and standardisation of the selection process between the different European Union countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12157/99]
235 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if her attention has been drawn to the call by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council that 221 bog complexes be designated as special areas of conservation and for the immediate undertaking of a mountain blanket bog survey; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12158/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 233, 234 and 235 together.
The Deputy will be aware that the court case referred to relates to the fact that Ireland did not transmit special area of conservation – SAC – sites to the EU Commission, and not to peatland sites in particular.
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council's report recommending the inclusion of an additional 334 bog sites was considered by my Department. These additional sites are, in the main, degraded bogs proposed for designation under the non-active bog category. As Ireland has included large areas of active bog sites it is not proposed, at this stage, to include sites under the non-active category. It is considered that the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) provides for this approach as it requires member states to take account of proportionality and representativity.
The actual position in relation to peatland sites is that my Department has proposed 30 raised bog sites containing approximately 8,000 hectares of intact raised bog, and 44 blanket bog sites containing approximately 250,000 hectares, for SAC designation in the initial list publicly advertised in 1997. The selection of these sites was made on the basis that the sites were the most important raised and blanket bog sites and provided a good representation of this habitat in Ireland. Irish mountain blanket bog has been subject to in-depth survey over the years and would not be a priority for further survey at this time.
