Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 29 May 2001

Vol. 537 No. 2

Written Answers. - Special Amenity Area Orders.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

88 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the area covered by the Tolka Estuary area order; the area originally included in the order; the extent to which the order was varied or amended; the reason for such amendments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15362/01]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

I believe the Deputy is referring to the Sandymount Strand-Tolka Estuary special protection area, SPA.

The State owned foreshore areas of Sandymount Strand and the Tolka Basin were designated as an SPA under the EU birds directive in March 1994 as part of a process to designate all qualifying parts of Dublin Bay as SPA. Another major area within Dublin Bay, the North Bull Island, had been separately designated as an SPA in February 1986. Subsequently, survey and censuses of waterfowl clearly indicated that other areas of Dublin Bay qualified on scientific grounds to be included in the SPA. These areas, mainly intertidal waterfowl-feeding grounds, of Dublin Bay had not been included in the original designation but are important for large numbers and variety of waterfowl, especially Pale-bellied Brent Geese and various species of waders.

Accordingly, in July 1999 my Department advertised a proposal to extend the Sandymount Strand-Tolka Estuary Special Protection Area, SPA. Arising out of this, the Dublin Port Authority contacted my Department to discuss the SPA boundary vis-à-vis, their proposals to extend the port facilities. The detailed extent of the SPA proposal was closely examined in the context of an environmental impact assessment of their development proposals. This EIA established that at extreme low spring tides, twice each month, a very small area of intertidal mudflats is exposed in the particular area affected by Dublin Port's proposal for port extension. Only common and adaptable species of birds feed opportunistically on this infrequently exposed area. On consideration of these facts, and taking account of the numbers and species of birds recorded using the small area exposed at extreme low tides, and its very limited availability as a feeding area, it was concluded that the inclusion of an area of 11 acres in the SPA was not warranted and its loss to the proposed port extension would not be significant in the context of the entirety of Dublin Bay's intertidal habitat. The total area of the Sandymount Strand-Tolka Estuary SPA including the recent addition is 4,200 acres – 1,700 hectares. It should be pointed out that most of the 52 acres of the proposed port extension is permanently covered by water and was never considered or proposed for inclusion in the SPA. The definitive SPA – as subsequently incorporated in the statutory instrument – was published in February 2000.