Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising all these issues today. The European Commission published a mandate for a fitness check on the EU birds and habitats directives in February 2014. Its purpose was to examine progress in the implementation and integration of the directives across the member states of the EU, the costs of implementation and of non-implementation of the legislation, and opportunities for improving implementation and reducing administrative burden without compromising the integrity of the purpose of the directives. The Commission’s State of Nature in the EU report was a central document in the process. Earlier this year my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine were invited to make submissions via a detailed questionnaire. I understand that IBEC and an environmental NGO were also invited to respond to the questionnaire. A public Internet consultation was also held, ending in July this year.

I understand that a dedicated conference will be held on the fitness check in Brussels in November, where draft results of the evaluation will be shared and discussed with member states and key stakeholder groups. The Commission is to publish its report on the results of the fitness check in 2016.

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