Vol. 575 No. 4
93 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government if he will put in place an inventory of wetland in Ireland and a requirement that planning permission be sought and granted before the drainage of wetland can be undertaken. [28481/03]
Wetlands include a variety of habitat types. Inventory and survey to date has focused on those considered to be most at risk, notably turloughs, lagoons and raised and blanket bogs. Fens are a remaining priority for survey. An inventory of blanket bogs suitable for designation as natural heritage areas, NHAs, under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 is being carried out this year and similar consideration will be given to other wetland habitat types in subsequent years. The water framework directive will provide a context for further inventory and research on wetlands.
Under class 11, Part 3 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, the reclamation of estuarine marsh land or of callows on land that is used only for the purpose of agriculture or forestry is exempt from the requirement to seek planning permission, but only where the preservation of the land or callows is not an objective of the development plan for the area. Where a wetland is valuable in ecological terms or is designated as a European site and has been included in the development plan, planning permission must be sought before any drainage or other development can be carried out. There are no proposals to amend this exemption.
In circumstances where a wetland is designated as a European site but planning permission is not required for drainage of the site, a person who is seeking to undertake such drainage must seek the consent of the Minister under the habitats regulations.
