Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Sheahan for raising this matter, which I will be taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley.

Special areas of conservation, SACs, are proposed for designation under the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997. These regulations transpose the 1992 habitats directive and provide a mechanism for designation and protection of important ecological areas in Ireland as part of the contribution Ireland is required to make to the EU-wide Natura 2000 network of sites for the protection of Europe's most important and rare habitats, birds and species.

Proposals to designate areas of land as the Kenmare river SAC were published by the Department of the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, which was then the responsible Department for the designation process, in May 2000 in local media in Cork and Kerry. Maps were also displayed in local public offices such as Garda stations. Where landowners were identified, they were notified directly in writing of the proposed designation. Any person with an interest in the land covered by the proposed designation had an opportunity to appeal.

Under the procedure set out in the habitats directive, each member state was required to transmit an initial list of sites proposed for designation as SACs. The Commission reviews the sites proposed by each member state and, if it finds them to be appropriate for inclusion, adopts the sites as part of the overall EU list. The initial 413 sites in Ireland were adopted in November 2004. It is understood, however, that the list of Natura 2000 sites will continue to be updated, particularly to allow for the inclusion of new areas or to address any concerns or omissions identified by the Commission when reviewing each member state's proposed list of sites. The Commission and member states have therefore agreed a programme for updating the lists over the coming years.

To meet certain Commission concerns about Ireland's initial list of sites, and to ensure each area was included in a designation on robust scientific grounds, a number of assessments and reviews, collectively known as the map validation project, were undertaken between 2001 and 2005 by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. As a result of this project, additional areas, both land and sea, have been recommended for inclusion in the Kenmare river SAC for the purpose of protection of an important habitat. The area now proposed for designation has increased in size by approximately 10,000 hectares from its previous value of 32,000 hectares. However, a large part of the additional area is at sea and does not affect landowners directly.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will shortly republish the revised proposed boundaries for the Kenmare river SAC for public consultation. To facilitate this, the identification of landowners affected by the extensions is under way using new and more comprehensive databases such as the LIPIS database of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Landowners will have the opportunity to seek the exclusion or inclusion of their land in the extended SAC within the statutory timeframe of three months. A request by a landowner to include or exclude land from the designation will be assessed on scientific grounds only, following which Ireland will communicate any proposed revisions to the boundary to the Commission for review.

It is now intended that Ireland will have 423 SACs, encompassing a larger area and wider range of habitats, as well as some 160 special protection areas for birds. Ireland already lost a case on the designation of SACs before the European Court of Justice in 2001. It is critical that we provide a comprehensive and scientifically justified suite of designated areas to ensure that Ireland fully complies with its obligations under the habitats directive.

See this speech in context