Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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10. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the habitats directive is under review in the European Union; if that review is taking place, her plans to make a submission regarding the problems that have arisen as a result of the habitats directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32059/15]

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Fitzmaurice should buy a lottery ticket today as he has done very well.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I understand the habitats directive is under review in various countries. What plans is Ireland making to review the habitats directive, given the massive problems it has caused for people living in rural Ireland? Every one of us loves wildlife and loves promoting it, but the sad reality of the habitats directive is that it puts a snipe ahead of a human being and is driving people out of rural Ireland. What submissions has the Government made to balance the weighing scales?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I do not know whether we are dealing with unelected people in Brussels, and I know it may be hard to get through to them at times, but in the UK the massive problems are widely acknowledged, be it where people are moving out of town to build in new areas or the flooding of rivers throughout the UK. EU officials had to be escorted through parts of Cyprus by the police or army because of a row. I encourage Irish officials and the Minister to talk to the British and the people in Cyprus. They should talk to the countries having problems because stuff cannot continue to be rammed down a person's throat if other countries are having problems. I have spoken to people in Poland who are having massive problems. This is not why the habitats directive was introduced. It was to encourage and help different countries, but at present it is tormenting them. Will the Minister forge links with all these countries having problems to highlight the difficulties involved and drum a bit of common sense into unelected representatives in Europe?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have spoken to Commissioner Vella and met him earlier this year. I have highlighted the difficulties we have with some of these directives and there is no doubt about this. I welcome the review which was initiated by the incoming Commission. The Department has engaged at official level and there is much further work to do in the process. We all need to engage in this, including our MEPs and public representatives as well as the Government. We must all engage in this process and make our views known. A total of 520,000 responses have been received from member countries and it is open to anyone to make a submission, but it is up to the Commission to assess these responses. We will continue to engage in the process. It is at an early stage and a conference will be held later in the year and a paper will be prepared. I encourage people to make their views known and make submissions because we should not leave it up to other people. We should all get involved in the process.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Minister.