Ms Cliona O'Brien:

I am a wildlife inspector with the scientific unit of the NPWS and I wish to add some comments on the regulatory context that might help to explain why reinstatement of what used to be there, namely, a weir with a fish pass that was not working well enough, would not be sufficient under the habitats directive. The NPWS has not been involved in the discussions on the weir through the past 15 years or so. To our knowledge, the last time we were involved was in a meeting approximately 15 years ago, which was probably around the time of the complaint to the European Commission. Obviously, we are happy to be here to answer members' questions.

The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, through the NPWS, is the lead statutory authority in respect of nature conservation. We have lead responsibly for the implement of the habitats and birds directives in Ireland, along with the associated transposing regulations which are primarily the European Community birds and natural habitats regulations. We are a statutory consultee in the planning process and, as such, although we do not have a direct role in regard to the weir or its repairs, as a prescribed body, any comments we make today will be without prejudice to any observations we make in due course to any planning application.

The birds and habitats directives are critical to environmental legislation in Ireland. Their aim is to ensure the restoration of a range of protected habitats and species throughout Ireland and the EU to favourable conservation status. In the context of the River Blackwater, this includes the salmon and the lamprey. The Blackwater is a protected site and a special area of conservation under the directives because it is an important home to several protected species and habitats, including the otter. Parts of the river downstream are protected for birds, with two special protection areas for the whooper swan, the wigeon and the black-tailed godwit. In spite of the measures we have taken in the past few years in Ireland to improve our compliance with the habitats directive, there are many challenges, such as in regard to the water framework directive, to the extent that Ireland is currently subject to several infringement proceedings by the European Commission for failing to implement sufficient conservation measures to restore and conserve our protected species. I am attending this meeting because my colleagues are in Brussels for a meeting relating to those infringement proceedings.