Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ruane. The Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016, as initiated, has been amended in Dáil Éireann and now provides for the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, at his or her discretion, to conduct a review or reviews of the blanket bog NHA network as well as to continue and complete the 2014 review of the raised bog NHA network. The Bill now gives the Minister the power to conduct a review or reviews of the blanket bog NHAs at some point in the future without obliging the Minister to do so. Such a review of blanket bog NHAs would not be done in a vacuum. It would involve public consultation and would not necessarily lead to proposals for the de-designation of blanket bog NHA sites. There are principles and criteria in the Bill to guide a Minister in conducting a review and in making decisions, such as the carrying out of a strategic environmental assessment, public consultation and linking the achievement of nature conservation objectives for blanket bog habitats to the favourable conservation status of these habitats.As provided for in the Bill, at the heart of any future review will be nature conservation in maintaining blanket bog habitats at, or restoring bog habitats to, a favourable conservation status.

I do not share the views of the Senators on the blanket bog natural heritage area network. Therefore, I will not be accepting the amendments.